Fennemore Craig is a law firm in Phoenix that likes to stay on top of tech trends—so it’s lending Google Glass to some of its personal injury clients. The idea is to let the clients communicate with their lawyers via Glass to show how their injuries impact their daily lives. Ultimately, Fennemore Craig hopes to turn these communications into evidence.
In a press release, Fennemore Craig calls the 3-month-old program “Glass Action,” and two personal injury attorneys, James Goodnow and Marc Lamber, have been working with clients on the initiative. The law firm obtained its Glass units through Google’s Explorer Program. “Jurors will now be able to see the nuances of a victim’s daily challenges firsthand,” Goodnow said. Fennemore Craig is also considering using Glass with expert witnesses, or putting Glass on “jurors” in mock trials to see court presentations from that perspective.
At least one trial lawyer, Mitch Jackson, has already planned how he could use Glass to keep all the information he needs readily accessible throughout the day.*
Just before the clerk calls our case, I command Glass to “go live” and a real time audio and video feed displays back at the office and private Youtube, Google Hangout, and Spreecast channels so that the new associates can watch the law and motion and oral argument from our various offices across the U.S. A private link is also shared with the clients so they can watch the procedure poolside from their hotel in the Bahamas where they are vacationing.
Whether you’re checking people in at an airport, reviewing medical histories in an emergency room, or collecting evidence for a court case, it seems there’s now a place for Glass. However, if Google is worried about Glass’ public image, maybe they should have tried to keep personal-injury lawyers out of the Explorer program.
*Correction, April 7, 2014: This post originally misstated that lawyer Mitch Jackson currently uses Google Glass throughout his day. He has only written hypothetically about how he would use Glass in his practice.
