Dec. 7, 2016 – In 2014, I wrote an article for InsideTrack featuring apps to enhance your workflow or make your courtroom work easier. In the world of technology, three years is a very long time. Since then, apps have become even more prevalent and useful in all walks of life, and new technologies are increasingly becoming a common sight in courtrooms across Wisconsin.
Kris Turner is the Reference and Technology Services Librarian at the University of Wisconsin Law School Library.
Below is a list of apps available for Android or iOS users to make your professional life a little easier. While I highlight different apps than in 2014, there are a few apps from my prior list that are just too useful to ignore.
Keep in mind, any list of apps is an incomplete list, but for more useful apps, check out the University of Wisconsin Law Library's guides to Android and IOS apps for the legal professional.
Legal Research Apps
Fastcase
Availability: Android and Apple
Price: Free for State Bar of Wisconsin members
Fastcase, featured in the previous article, must be highlighted again due to the free access provided to any member of the State Bar. Containing statutes from all 50 states and the federal government, a newspaper archive, and legal forms, Fastcase remains a pretty comprehensive and useful tool. Finally, Fastcase has also added Wisconsin Jury Instructions to its collection (for an extra fee).
Bloomberg Law
Availability: Apple and Android
Price: Free with subscription to Bloomberg Law
Bloomberg Law is one of the big research tools that many lawyers use. The Bloomberg Law app gives users the chance to bring legal research and updates with them, and search quickly across an extremely large number of resources.
Other Legal Research Apps: PushLegal, DLaw, LexisNexis, Westlaw
Courtroom and Litigation Apps
TrialPad
Availability: Apple
Price: $129.99
TrialPad, which was featured several years ago, has increased its range of services and tools (as well as its price). TrialPad is still the most expensive app on this list, but also provides attorneys with the most functionality and flexibility. Present your case wirelessly from your iPad, make callouts from depositions or notes, share and organize everything to your liking, draw freehand on the whiteboard, and import a variety of file types. The company behind TrialPad also created two sister apps called DocReviewPad and TranscriptPad that work hand in hand with TrialPad to handle each of your cases in various ways. Purchase the three apps as a Litigation Bundle for $299.99.
Clio
Availability: Apple and Android
Price: Free
Clio is a well-known and mostly well-respected case management tool that is now available as an app. Users that already have a Clio account to track cases and interactions with clients and courts can now access everything via their phones or tablets. A powerful calendaring feature and deadline alerts are both highlights to an already powerful tool.
Courtroom Objections
Availability: Apple
Price: $2.99
Courtroom Objections serves as a cheat sheet for objections in the courtroom. Quickly review by form of question or admissibility. Not a 'do-it-all' app, but a basic app that works for a specific purpose.
Second Chair Mobile Jury
Availability: Apple
Price: $24.99
Second Chair Mobile Jury, in a somewhat crowded field of jury selection apps, is unique. While it’s nice to have customizable questions and avatars, the ability to handwrite or type in the app is what has made this app an attention grabber.
iJuror
Availability: Apple and Android
Price: $14.99
In 2014, iJuror was included on my list. It is included here again as one of the only jury selection apps available for Android users. Drag and drop jurors to add, dismiss, or replace, quickly take notes on each potential jury member, and keep all your information in one place with this useful app.
Mobile Transcript
Availability: Apple
Price: Free (must create free online account)
Mobile Transcript is one of the relatively few apps created specifically with lawyers in mind. Reviewing depositions and court transcripts on the go is much easier with this app. Lawyers ask court reporters to add the transcripts to their account, or upgrade their app to upload their own. Helpfully, the app also has a billable hours tracker built-in, so while you are working, you can later export that time to make sure that all your time is counted.
Negotiation 360
Availability: Apple
Price: $2.99
Negotiation 360 is a training tool developed by Harvard professor Michael Wheeler. The app devises situations where negotiation is developed and tested, which helps determine the best practices for you or your attorneys while at the bargaining table. There is no real-world use for the app, but the training it provides could pay dividends for your clients and your firm.
Other Courtroom and Legal Professional Apps: MyCase, Lawyer-On-Go, Picture It Settled, IJury, Jury in a Hurry, Jury Star, Jury Select BETA, OYez
Office Productivity Apps
Air Display
Availability: Apple and Android
Price: $9.99
Air Display is a mirroring app that takes what is on your tablet and displays it elsewhere. It can also extend your screen onto other tablets or phones. Helpful for when you need more space to work, or you need your display on a larger screen to state your case.
Chrome Remote Desktop
Availability: Apple and Android
Price: Free
Chrome Remote Desktop has the capability to save you when you leave that one critical document on your desktop. Quickly access your computer from your phone or tablet by installing this app (on your tablet/phone and desktop), and you can breathe a little easier when gathering all your documents for court.
iAnnotate
Availability: Apple
Price: $9.99
Sometimes the worst part about a digital world is the inability to write a note to yourself on a document. With iAnnotate, you can mark up any PDF (or Word, or Excel, or image), take notes, or search across all your various notes. This is helpful with collaboration or when you want to explicitly make a change to an important document. Built-in access to various cloud services, such as Dropbox and Google Drive, make it even easier to share your thoughts and edits.
Dragon Dictation
Availability: Apple and Android (remote microphone)
Price: Free
Imagine an app that records all your dictation, shares it via text or email, and saves you all that typing time. This app, and others like it, allows you to speak to your phone to send anything from notes and email to a dictated message. To share, you will have to create an account with Dragon, the app's parent company.
Time Master
Availability: Apple and Android
Price: $9.99
Time Master is consistently one of the highest rated time-keeping apps in either the App Store or Google Play. There are plenty of bells and whistles within this app, ranging from filters for types of work done to exportable reports on your time to the ability to run the app in the background so it isn't always on your screen. Time Master is a popular app with lawyers and consultants, and with good reason.
HelloSign
Availability: Apple and Android
Price: Free
HelloSign makes it much simpler to sign and edit electronic documents. Signing a document with your finger may take a little getting used to, but the faux ink signature that appears is well worth saving you the trouble of printing, signing, scanning, and emailing. You can also upload images via your camera that you can edit, sign, and send to anybody via your email.
SignMyPad
Availability: Apple and Android
Price: $0.99 on Android, $3.99 on Apple (both versions have in-app purchases available as well)
SignMyPad does exactly what it sounds like: it makes it simple for your clients or staff to quickly sign PDFs without having to print and scan a document. Dropbox integration makes it easy for cloud storage, and the ability to add notations is a nice touch. Many apps are designed to do one thing well, and SignMyPad is no exception.
CallTrack
Availability: Android
Price: Free
Another unique productivity app, CallTrack syncs up with a Google Calendar to keep track of your phone calls each day. Track outgoing, incoming, or missed calls, and decide which calendar to keep them on. Nice for tracing calls with clients or other firms, and when they happened.
Wunderlist
Availability: Apple and Android
Price: Free
Tracking to-dos and managing tasks can be some of the most difficult aspects of any job, as many office managers can attest to. Wunderlist is designed to have a friendly and intuitive interface that makes creating lists simple. The lists can be shared with several people, and tasks can be assigned to specific staff, ensuring that everyone will (or should) know what is expected of them on a particular project.
Evernote Scannable
Availability: Apple
Price: Free
One thing that we all want less of is paper cluttering up our desks. Along those lines, what to do with all the paper that is given to us during a busy day (in court or otherwise)? With Scannable, a part of the Evernote suite of apps, you can quickly use your phone or tablet's camera to scan in the documents, organize them (in Evernote), and email them to yourself or others. A good scanning app is nearly indispensable, and this is one of the best.
Other Productivity Apps: CamScanner, Any.do, Scrivener, Evernote, LogMeIn Ignition, Uberconference, Notability, Remember the Milk
Security Apps
App Lock - Fingerprint
Availability: Android
Price: Free (with in-app purchases up to $2.39/item)
App Lock is a handy app to have when you have sensitive documents or resources on your phone or tablet. App Lock allows you to lock each app individually with passwords, set up a fake shut down screen if an incorrect password is entered too many times, take a picture of the intruder and have it emailed to you, and more.
Dashlane
Availability: Apple and Android
Price: Free (with various in-app upgrades)
Dashlane is one of the most popular and trusted password managers. Simply store all your passwords within Dashlane and securely log in via the app. Users can also create secure notes that require a password log in to view. The premium version offers access across devices and more password storage.
SpiderOakOne
Availability: Apple and Android
Price: Free (SpiderOak account suggested)
SpiderOak is a secure cloud storage program that can be installed on desktops and with the app. The documents can be safely accessed from anywhere and shared with anyone that is given access. There have been quite a few secure apps developed lately, and with some cloud storage security concerns cropping up, it is worth a look to see if a more secure solution is what your firm needs.
Other Security Apps: Boxcyptor, 1Password, Avast Security, EncyptIt, Norton Mobile Security, AppLock (from DoMobile), Norton AppLock, LastPass
Current Awareness/News Apps
Readable
Availability: Apple
Price: $3.99
Readable is a niche app that extracts the long-form stories that are hiding in your Twitter feed. Add your Twitter account to Readable and watch it collect all the stories that are posted to your feed in one place. The reading is made simple with an auto-scroll feature. Curate the content you want to follow, and stay up to date on legal news and developments in your social and professional circles.
Pocket
Availability: Apple and Android
Price: Free (premium purchases available in-app)
One of the most aggravating moments of the information age is when you come across an article that you want to read, but you simply don't have the time. With Pocket, you can save all your articles to one place and organize them for future perusal. When you have the time, simply locate your saved article. Once you have saved the item to Pocket, you can read it offline, saving you potential costs as well. Useful for current awareness.
Flipboard
Availability: Apple and Android
Price: Free
Flipboard is one of the most beautiful news aggregator apps around. You can add topics that you like to follow, and Flipboard will pull related stories and news for you to 'flip' through, or read at your own pace. Users can also follow a specific blog or website and read offline. Flipboard is also accessible via their website, where you can add your favorite news sites through their bookmarklet.
Other current awareness and news apps: Feedly, NewsRepublic, InstaPaper, Above the Law, ABA Journal, Google News and Weather, various company-specific apps (NPR One, CNN, BBC News, etc.).
Miscellaneous Amazing Apps
Last Message
Availability: Android
Price: Free
A uniquely helpful app, Last Message saves you the stress when your phone or tablet is dying and you don't want people to think you are ignoring them. Last Message runs in the background, monitoring your battery life. When it gets low, Last Message can notify your selected contacts via Social Media, email, or text that your power is running out. We don't often think of this as a problem until it happens…that is when Last Message is most useful.
SCOTUS Pronouncing Dictionary
Availability: Android
Price: Free
This app, developed by the Yale Law Library, performs one simple task – it tells you how to pronounce difficult names from SCOTUS cases, especially rarely heard foreign names. Good to have if you are worried about mispronouncing a name in court to the derision of the judge or other attorneys. The full pronunciation chart is also available online.
TripIt
Availability: Apple and Android
Price: Free
Travel is a common aspect of the legal profession, yet it is one that can cause a lot of unexpected headaches, as we all know. TripIt removes those headaches by simplifying and organizing your travel itinerary. Forward your trip confirmation emails to TripIt's email, and it puts your entire agenda into one reviewable document that also includes maps and directions between your destinations. You can also sync up your calendar with TripIt to maximize its usefulness.
Waze
Availability: Apple and Android
Price: Free
Waze is the end product of the world's largest community-based traffic and directions collection. Allowing for real-time updates on construction, accidents, and weather, Waze is pretty likely to get you to your destinations (be they across the state or across town) as quickly as possible. A few added features that add extra usefulness include finding the cheapest gas on your route, sending an ETA to your colleagues who also use the app, and tracking others who are on the way to the same location.
Google Translate
Availability: Apple and Android
Price: Free
While Google doesn't need any extra publicity, this app is too impressive to leave out. With more than 100 languages included, users can speak, write, or take a picture of a language and have it instantly translated. While some of the translations are imperfect, they are improving and generally accurate.
MyScript Calculator
Availability: Apple and Android
Price: Free
MyScript is only tangentially related to practicing the law, but it can save some embarrassment. You can write out any equation with your finger on your tablet or phone and it will be solved nearly instantly. If math is not your strong point (it certainly isn't mine), this app is a lifesaver.
Other Miscellaneous Apps: Photomath, Google Goggles, Camfinder, Haiku Deck, Prezi, Floatnote, Stickynote, Package Buddy
And There’s More …
There is a world of apps out there to explore, and it is constantly changing and evolving. It is very likely that some of these apps may be gone in a year (or even much sooner). Finding an app that you enjoy can sometimes be frustrating – try a few and see how they work. An app that saves you time and makes your professional or personal life easier is worth its weight in gold.
What’s your favorite app? Post below or share with the editors and author.
Happy apping!
