For people who know me, they know that I use a lot of gadgets to help me work. I was reading a discussion on a technology site in which people were discussing whether cameraphones were useful or if they were simply toys. I believe that they are an essential part of any lawyer's toolkit.

Recently when I attended court to speak to a criminal matter I was handling, I noticed almost every lawyer there carrying a Blackberry (I was among the first in Canada to use a Motorola RAZR V3 Black which I still carry today). With the exception of the recently released Blackberry Pearl, no Blackberry device has a camera, which can be a real inconvenience for lawyers.

As a value-added service, I often visit clients at their work or homes, where they may not have a flat-bed copier or scanner. A large portion of my work is real estate and I am required to submit and record identification of clients. I often use my cameraphone to capture the front and back of ID, and I've never had an issue come up with a financial institution saying that they could not accept it. Well, the only exception to that is once when the image was a little fuzzy, but that had more to do with camera quality than protocol.

There is even software available now which I have seen on the Internet that allows a cameraphone to copy, scan and fax documents. The software's full functionality is limited to higher end cameraphones, but with the don of 5, 7 and 10 megapixel "phonecameras" (as I might call them), adoption of this software may grow and it may become more useful.

I believe with the right hardware, a lawyer will only need to carry a good cameraphone to work while out of the office in the near future.