Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly
The enormously popular iPhone (whose most recent incarnation, the G3, was released last July) has become a hit for tech enthusiasts in all fields – and attorneys are no exception.
Here’s the low down on several iPhone applications popular with lawyers:
Jott
What it does: Allows you to call in and leave a short message (approximately 20-30 seconds) which will then be transcribed into text.
How lawyers can use it: Jott comes in handy for anyone who needs to leave a brief message or reminder. “I use it whenever I need to give a quick instruction to my assistant,” said Ben Stevens, author of the Mac Lawyer blog (http://www.themaclawyer.com/the_mac_lawyer/) and a family lawyer in Spartanburg, S.C.
Air Sharing
What it does: Eliminates the need for flash drives by using a wireless connection to call a document off a computer in the same wireless network.
How lawyers can use it: Finis Price, a personal injury lawyer in Louisville, Ky., has used the app when he forgets to bring a document to court or upload it to his phone.
Stage Hand
What it does: Allows you to run presentations through Keynote, keep track of and switch slides and read presentation notes right off the phone.
How lawyers can use it: Stage Hand gives an important prompt for lawyers who catch stage fright before a jury and forget what they were going to say. “It gives you complete control over your presentation,” said Price. “I like that you can point things out to jurors with a glowing green circle instead of some old laser pointer.”
NumberKey
What it does: Because laptops lack numerical keypads, the NumberKey app allows the user to dial one up and use it for a quick, on-the-go calculation.
How lawyers can use it: Price said he uses this to quickly punch in settlement figures during a mediation session.
Recorder
What it does: Exactly what you’d think – it’s a quick voice recorder.
How lawyers can use it: Like NumberKey, Recorder is a simple application that allows an attorney to carry one less thing for any event that comes up. Price has already used it while investigating the scene of an accident, if he runs across someone who claims to have witnessed the event in question.
Datacase
What it does: Datacase acts as a reader for PDF or Microsoft Excel files. The files may be downloaded from a computer and transported on the go.
How lawyers can use it: It allows them to read from deposition or case files while in court.
Other Apps
1Password. Can’t remember every single password for every single program? A big hit on Mac computers, 1Password allows the user to sync all of the various alphanumeric passwords to be accessed via the iPhone.
Eponym. For personal injury lawyers, a quick and easy-access glossary of medical terms.
Evernote. Create and edit new notes, take a photo or make a voice recording for constant access to information whether at the office or in the courtroom.
iPhone apps range in price from free to $10. They are available at the iTunes store.
This article first appeared in Lawyers USA, another Dolan Media publication.
