For some time now, Tech Central has encouraged lawyers to embrace technological advancements to enhance their practices. We’ve discussed social media, infographics, blogging, and much more. Obviously, being “connected” is essential for these opportunities; laptops, smartphones and tablets are becoming integral components of legal practice. And we see increasing numbers of apps and programs designed specifically to service lawyers in this regard. Here are a few notable ones that have caught our eyes.
The “paperless office” trend that took hold in the 2000s is moving to the next level with document storage services and apps allowing lawyers to access their files remotely. Finding some unexpected downtime between court motions, a lawyer can now pull out his smartphone or tablet, access any of his files, and review some corporate documents or continue drafting an affidavit. Apple’s iCloud and Google’s Drive services, and apps like Dropbox are leaders in this field.
Looking at the more specifically “legal” apps, we see that some provincial and state case reporter systems have developed their own apps. Once, Ontario lawyers waited for the weekly or monthly Ontario Reports supplements to be delivered by mail. Then, more technically savvy lawyers opted to receive OR reports by email. Now, a lawyer can access and review not just the most recent edition, but the entire back catalogue, all while sitting on a bus or sitting on a beach, simply by calling up the LSUC-OR app (Android, iPhone, iPad) on her smartphone.
Remember that Black’s Law Dictionary that used to be a standard fixture in every lawyer’s office and was often lugged around in a briefcase? Now the Law Dictionary app (iPad, iPhone, Android) provides mobile access, with keyword search and bookmark options. Legal Lexicon (Android), Legal Dictionary for Droidlaw (Android), and Dictionary of Law (BB World) provide some alternatives in this area.
But for the busy trial lawyer, apps aren’t just for killing time between motions or meetings. There are many apps designed specifically to streamline the trial process and improve in-court performance. And tablets (the iPad in particular) are proving to be more and more valuable trial tools.
JuryTracker (iPad) helps lawyers, paralegals and jury consultants observe and report on jury behaviour through all stages of a trial, with gesture images and emoticons to make quick notations of jurors’ behaviours and apparent attitudes.
TrialPad (iPad) bills itself as a complete “electronic courtroom presentation” tool with the aim of reducing or eliminating the need for physical exhibits, whiteboards, posters, and fiddling with TV screens, DVDs and the like. The app allows for callouts from stored documents, and facilitates highlights, annotations, redacting and zooming, all on the go.
And finally (for now), lawyers can simplify their notorious docket systems with apps like Timewerks (iPhone), TimeMaster (iPad, iPhone, Android), Flexi Time Tracker (Android) and Exgis Time Tracker (BB World), to name just a few. These apps track time and tasks for individual clients, and allow users to send summary reports back to the office or directly to clients.
For today’s connected lawyers, these apps and services are worth looking into.