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While losing an iPhone prototype might earn an Apple engineer a free flight and a free beer, the same might not be said for the attorney who loses her Blackberry.

Are you concerned about the security of the information on your mobile device?  What if someone gets access to this confidential information? What ramifications might it hold regarding attorney-client privilege?

In December last year, Jeff Richardson (iPhone J.D.) complained:

Security is very important for lawyers, but articles like [ABA’s Parting the Curtains on the iPhone's Security Problems] frustrate me a little.  First, the hacking required is very sophisticated.  The hacker mentioned in that article is Jonathan Zdziarski, the foremost authority on iPhone security who literally wrote the book on iPhone Forensics.  I have no doubt that if Zdziarski gets your iPhone and wants to do you harm, you are in trouble.  The random guy who picks up the iPhone you left on a subway will almost certainly not be Jonathan Zdziarski.

To read more about this emerging issue, and the pros and cons of using mobile devices in your law practice, try the following Westlaw searches:

Search:

IPHONE BLACKBERRY “SMART PHONE” TREO “PALM PILOT” “PERSONAL DIGITAL ASSISTANT” “MOBILE DEVICE” /P “LAW FIRM” LAWYER ATTORNEY COUNSEL /P #SECURITY PRIVATE PRIVACY & ATTORNEY-CLIENT-PRIVILEGE

Database:       TP-ALL

Search:

IPHONE BLACKBERRY “SMART PHONE” TREO “PALM PILOT” “PERSONAL DIGITAL ASSISTANT” “MOBILE DEVICE” /50 “LAW FIRM” LAWYER ATTORNEY COUNSEL /50 #SECURITY CONFIDENTIAL   ATTORNEY-CLIENT-PRIVILEGE

Database:        ABAJ

Search:

TI(IPHONE BLACKBERRY “SMART PHONE” P.D.A. “PERSONAL DIGITAL ASSISTANT” “MOBILE DEVICE”) & #SECURITY ATTORNEY-CLIENT-PRIVILEGE CONFIDENTIAL!