Money is always a concern for small and solo law practitioners, especially in today’s tight economy. Apps that run on smartphones and tablet computers can be real time-savers and productivity boosters for these professionals; they can make a difference to the bottom line.
The best of both worlds? Free apps! Here is a selection of useful ones:
Access to accurate legal knowledge is a must for lawyers, no matter what their level of experience or practice size. WiseLii is a free iPhone app developed by Toronto lawyer Garry Wise that allows user to view and search any Canadian statute or regulation, legal information and legislation. It also lets the research Canadian legal case law. (Note WiseLii is not associated with CanLii.) WiseLii is available at itunes.apple.com.
WiseLii is not the only free legal reference app available: CanadianLawSite.ca offers a number of downloadable free apps for Android, Apple and newer BlackBerrys at http://la.canadianlawsite.ca. Topics covered include Canadian and U.S. Bankruptcy Essentials, Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and Canadian Real Estate Essentials, among others.
Need access to files back at the office? The private version of the TeamViewer remote computer access app lets users of Android, Apple, BlackBerry and Windows 7 mobile devices to access TeamViewer-equipped Apple, Linux and Windows computers via the web. The software also supports file transfers, desktop sharing, and online meetings up to 25 users.
Words matter to lawyers, so a good legal dictionary is a must. Nolo’s Plain English Law Dictionary is available as a free download at itunes.apple.com. Containing nearly 4,000 legal terms explained in clear language, this app covers Latin, courtroom jargon, contract basics and new words such as “dooced” (fired for blogging about work; named for dooce.com workplace blogger Heather Armstrong, who herself was “dooced.”)
What lawyer hasn’t needed to scan a document while out of the office – with not a scanner in sight? Relax: The CamScanner Free app for Android and Apple devices can scan documents, auto-crop scanned photos, and create PDF files for sharing and storage. You even get 200MB of free cloud storage, to keep from clogging up your smartphone/tablet memory.
If you need to keep track of random ideas, to-do lists, and a hundred other things that used to fill up paper-based Daytimers, consider downloading the free Evernote app. Designed to run across wired desktops as well as mobile devices, Evernote lets you take and save electronic notes, create to-do lists, record voice messages to yourself, and search it all electronically. Evernote’s free app is available for Android, Apple, BlackBerry and Windows phone.
Lawyers live and die on their billable hours. The free Yast time-tracker app for Android and Apple lets you track billable time by creating a project folder and simply turning a timer on and off, or dragging a line along a time schedule graph. When you’re done, it tells you how much time you took, and keeps track of additional time during further visits/meetings. (You can even go back and forth between projects, timing-wise.) Meanwhile, Yast Calls lets you time client phone calls, again assigning the times to the appropriate project for accurate billing.
Being reimbursed for your expenses is also important for small and solo law practitioners. This is where Expensify comes to the rescue. This free app lets your record expenses, take digital photos of receipts, and even create “expense reports that don’t suck,” says the company slogan. Expensify is available for Android, Apple, BlackBerry and Windows 7 devices.
Gas can be a big expense for lawyers on the road. Your wisest move is to find the cheapest gas whenever you can, which is where the GasBuddy Mobile App can help. It will tell you where the cheapest gas is in real-time, based on your location. GasBuddy is available for Android, Apple, BlackBerry, and Windows 7. Smartphones can get lost, which is not good news for lawyers who may have confidential information stored on them. Secure Ops’ free My Eyes Only app is a highly secure password app that collects and protects passwords, credit card information and other personal data on your iPhone/iPad. This data is backed up in Secure Ops’ cloud for online retrieval should your device go missing. The company also makes free apps for encrypting contacts and photos, which are also available at the same website.
Sometimes it is time that seems to go missing, as lawyers rush from one meeting to another. Dragon Dictation is a free iPhone app that lets you dictate messages by voice, and then have them converted into text for fast emailing. Why use email instead of voice? Because people are more likely to read email than pick up voice messages – and if you’re a rush, the last thing you want to do is to call someone and get tied up in conversation!
One more time saver: Mobile Transcripts is a free lawyer-centric app that lets you review court transcripts and depositions, highlight testimony, and then send your highlighted points in Excel or PDF format to contacts via email. The system even tracks billable time associated with your review. Note: Lawyers have to sign up for a free account at www.MobileTranscript.com for this app to work. This app is available for Android, Apple and BlackBerry platforms.
Even the most disciplined of legal minds has to find a bathroom occasionally – hopefully one that is clean and not horror-inspiring. The people at Charmin – the ones with the apparently-adorable bears that inexplicably use toilet paper in the woods – have developed a free app called Sit or Squat. This Android/Apple free app lets users search, rate and add public washrooms in North America. It sounds silly, until one finds oneself in a questionable neighbourhood seized with the undeniable urge to “go.”
James Careless is a freelance writer.