On January 13, 2011 I participated in a webinar by Finis Price, iPhone and iPad for Lawyers: Apps You Require to be Using. Price is a personal injury lawyer in Kentucky who blogs on TechnoEsq.
Price started by dispelling some misconceptions about the iPad, which is not just a larger iPod Touch. Despite having the exact same screen type and operating system, the larger screen makes it possible for significantly far more functionality than smaller mobile devices.
An iPad can aid efficiency and lighten loads when traveling out of the office or going to court. Price accesses nearly anything in his office from his iPad, which saves considerable time from digging via the files. The bulk of Price’s presentation consisted of app reviews and how they relate to his practice.
iTeleport
Price uses remote desktop applications for greater efficiency. Opening up a computer and logging on takes time, but an iPad can be turned on proper away.
By downloading iTeleport on your desktop your personal computer will wait for your iPad to connect and work via any firewalls in the systems. Most other apps get caught up on firewall blocks. This app has full keyboard support and volume control, and uses secure encryption.
Cydia
Courts in the U.S. have ruled that jailbreaking a smartphone does not contravene the law. Although this will normally void a warranty, it is feasible to return a phone to it’s original state without the manufacturer being conscious of its former jailbreak status.
Jailbreaking enables smartphones to have far more apps than they would normally have. 1 app to accomplish this is Cydia.
My WI
The principal reason to jailbreak a phone is to enable it to make a mobile Wi-Fi, which can be accomplished with My WI, which allows for Wi-Fi tethering on the iPhones and iPad.
Verizon announced the release of an iPhone4 in the U.S. this past Tuesday. The new phone should have Wi-Fi capabilities, largely making jailbreaking unnecessary, which is more of an AT&T problem. However, Verizon does not makes it possible for users to use data and voice at the same time the way AT&T does, but for the iPad this isn’t any issue anyhow.
1Password
With all the diverse systems and platforms we’re all working with these days, there are usually a entire slew of passwords we require to maintain track of.
1Password creates complex 16 digit alphanumeric passwords for you and stored them, so all you need to do is remember one master password. These passwords can also be backed up manually for additional security.
The revelation last month of the types of typical passwords employed on Gawker suggests that something like this could be really useful.
Trapster
Price tends to be on the road a lot, for business development and the several seminars and presentations he gives, and as a result is regularly driving by way of areas that he’s not incredibly familiar with.
Using Trapster he can obtain live data about traffic conditions wherever he is. Although Google Maps has a comparable function, it’s generally about 15-30 min. behind real-time visitors, which can make a considerable distinction in rush hour. Trapster is able to provide actual-time details by pulling data from other Trapster users.
Dragon Dictation
Voice recognition software is getting far better all the time. People have been discouraged from making use of it by their experiences in the past, and may possibly not have noticed how the current technology has improved.
Dragon Dictation makes it possible for voice dictation to be converted to test or e-mail, or dictate notes whilst driving.
Audio Note
It’s significantly less difficult to use the keyboard on an iPad than on an iPhone, which makes a difference when taking notes. Audio Note will record audio at the exact same time as note-taking and provide time-stamps to keep track of what is being said.
By clicking on the time-stamp you get the actual audio of what was being said, comparable to the Livescribe Pen being employed in universities.
Zosh
Your touchscreen can also be used to sign-off on documents with out printing, faxing, and scanning. Zosh will pull up a document, permit you to add your signature and date, and then send it on to other people.
This can be helpful for contracts and other documents that want signing, specifically when you’re out of town but there are documents in the office requiring your signature.
Air Sketch
Price uses his iPad to allow a witness to draw in colour where issues are on a picture, utilizing Air Sketch. When connected to a projector during trial, these drawings can come up simultaneously on the screen.
The witness can show where diverse vehicles were situated, which can then be saved and cleared, and drawn again for comparison. Juries particularly like this feature since it matches their expectations of what they believe litigation is supposed to be based on tv sitcoms.
iAnnotate
Price uses iAnnotate much more than any other app since it allows him to open pdfs, annotate them, and store it for trial. His notes can be employed by others and it can be used although he is in court waiting for his case to be referred to as.
Although similar apps are available, this is 1 of the only 1 that permits searching of all your documents. Throughout depositions he call pull up a summary of his annotations and click via to areas of interest.
This app can also be really useful during trial presentation using its projection mode.
NumberKey
When utilizing a laptop on the road it can be cumbersome to try to enter large amounts of numbers with the condensed keyboard format.
NumberKey lets your iPhone act as an extension of your laptop, specifically acting as a number keypad, which can be incredibly helpful for populating Excel spreadsheets.
DocScanner
Ever been in court and don’t have spare change to make a copy of a essential document?
DocScanner will take a photo of a document, come across the edges and crop it, fix the resolution and make a clean pdf that can be emailed back to the office. It’s distinct from just taking a photo due to the fact the app will flatten the image for you.
GoDocs and DocsToGo
GoDocs and DocsToGo assist you edit documents or slide presentations on the go. You can fix briefs or pleadings on the road, change a few words, and send it back to the office in a format they can read.
DocsToGo will open nearly any time of file format. Though it doesn’t enable editing of pdfs, it can annotate them.
SmartNotes
SmartNotes is another annotating app that lets you draw all over the page, change font size, and even has icons that can be employed for shorthand. It’s the ideal replacement to a legal pad, without the want for a entire bunch of various pens.
Navigon mobileNavigator
Price uses lots of distinct GPS software and has reviewed their features since he’s on the road a lot. He prefers Navigon mobileNavigator, which has also won a number of awards and favourable reviews. It has a 3D view, supports multitasking, shows which lane you need to be in, and gives route options.
Map add-ons are available which contain roads in Canada.
FastCase
FastCase is a free iPad app with a full library of American statutes and case law.
No such app exists in Canada, to the very best of my knowledge.
BrowsingPad
When browsing the internet on an iPhone or iPad there are frequently things you want to copy and past for later, which is tougher to do than on your desktop. BrowsingPad lets you copy something without switching between apps.
Omni Graffle
For creating charts with shapes Price uses OmniGraffle. He has utilized this to demonstrate the relationship between parties and witnesses.
It can also potentially be employed in trial by putting a photo on the background and making shapes for cars and vans, which a witness on the stand can then move around.
AppShopper
After reading about all these apps you may determine you want some of them but do not want to download them proper now or don’t want to pay for it yet.
AppShopper lets you create a wishlist of apps, with reviews and descriptions, and price histories.
ReaddleDocs and Evernote
To get documents from a personal computer to an iPhone, Price uses ReaddleDocs. It will connect to a dropbox or Gmail, and pull documents to your phone with adjustments made.
To store and retrieve documents in the cloud, he uses Evernote, which enables you to access it from any computer.
reQall
You can create a voice-based to-do list with reQall. The voice recognition also allows you to open your calendar, check for appointments, and enter meetings.
DropBox
DropBox is a web-based cloud computing app which permits info to be stored on the cloud and accessed from an iPad or iPhone.
EvidPredicates and Courtroom Objections
To maintain track of all the (U.S.) evidentiary rules and objections you can use EvidPredicates or Courtroom Objections. They are developed for phones, but may not be executed extremely well in the courtroom if a lawyer has to object and read off their phone simultaneously.
App developers are realizing that trial litigation software is in high demand, so it’s a quickly growing region that will likely see improvement.
TrialPad
TrialPad has only been out for a month. It has limited functionality, but is helpful for bringing in documents as exhibits to show to the jury.
This app makes it possible for you to redact that data on the screen if there are segments of a document that a judge rules are inadmissible while in court, a function not obtainable with other apps.
PDF Expert
Highlighting, inserting signatures and entering forms can all be performed with PDF Expert. Pre-filled forms can be sent to a lawyer right away prior to meeting a client for an initial interview, or pre-formatted fields can guide an interview to focus on key details.
RTLC: Evidence
Another presentation software for lawyers is RLTC: Evidence. Some unique features contain underlining as a straight line, instead of free of charge form, and rotating exhibits.
The competition of of trial presentation apps will lead to a lot more features, and we’ll see much better versions of this over time.
iJuror
To aid pick your juror panel you can use iJuror. It stores information about each individual, which can then be used for pre-emptory challenges or dismissals. This can be helpful when performing a trial by yourself without a person to take notes.
A new update of this app permits customization of the jury pool by adding additional columns and rows, so it’s a lot more likely to be adapted to different jurisdictions.
Other Resources
Price recommends the following internet sites for much more details on apps for lawyers:
To that I’ll add: