Lightbrite…………
We have found that many people leave things visible on their computer screens.
When a client comes in and sits down opposite an attorney at his/her desk, it is easy to either just flip down the top of the laptop or move it to the side of desk so it is visible only to the attorney, not the client. When our attorneys used desktop computers they were placed on the ell (or return) of the desk. The screen could be seen by clients, visitors, etc. and confidentiality was breached. Also, the attorney would have to turn away from the client to look things up instead of d=facing them directly which is disrespectful.
Our paralegals, bookkeepers and secretaries use desktops, but they are in offices not visited by non-staff. If they come into an attorney’s office to assist or meet with clients, they bring a laptop that is connected to our network by plugging in an ethernet cord to an available outlet.
We do not conduct any business via WiFi in our offices for security reasons.
I use a Dell Business series heavy duty laptop running Windows 7, I don’t care for 8 or 10. It has a CD drive and card readers, things which have been eliminated from most laptops today (as they have gotten lighter and thinner). I use a touchpad, not a mouse and opted for a larger keyboard by not having a 10-Keypad. I do have a camera and microphone, as we do sometimes use Skype or Facetime to communicate with certain clients (I have a client who lives on an ocean going yacht who always has internet through a satellite dish) but almost never a phone signal.