More than Just Lines on a Map: Best Practices for U.S Bike Routes
Legal Apps for Mobile Devices
1. Legal Apps for Mobile
Devices and Tablets
Sarah Prosory
Electronic Services Librarian
February 20th & 21st 2012, Noon-12:50pm
March 20th, 2012, 5:00pm-5:50pm
2.
3. Brief Introduction to the
World of Apps
O What is an app?
O Platforms
O App vs. mobile website
O Where to download
O Free vs. paid
O Caution!
O Overwhelmed? Where can you begin?
4. Where to Find App
Suggestions & Reviews
O Networking
O Colleagues / friends
O Law Librarians/ Lawyers / Professors
O Blogs
O Google Blog Search: http://www.google.com/blogsearch
O iPhoneJD: http://www.iphonejd.com/
O TabletLegal: http://tabletlegal.com/
O iPad4Legal: http://www.ipad4legal.com/
O The Mac Lawyer: http://www.themaclawyer.com/
O The Sociable Lawyer: http://www.sociablelawyer.org/
O Law.com Mobile Lawyer:
http://www.law.com/jsp/lawtechnologynews/mobile_lawyer.js
p
O USA.gov mobile apps listing: http://apps.usa.gov/
5. More App Suggestions &
Reviews
O App Search Engines
O uQuery.com (iTunes/Apple only):
http://www.uquery.com/
O Mashable: 10 Apps for Finding Apps:
http://mashable.com/2012/02/12/apps-for-finding-apps/
O AppStoreHQ (choose your device):
http://www.appstorehq.com/
O Mobile Apps for Law (subscription required- all
platforms):
http://www.informedlibrarian.com/MobileAppsforLaw/ind
ex.cfm
6. Even More Suggestions &
Reviews!
O Other
O UCLA Guide on Mobile Legal Apps
O http://libguides.law.ucla.edu/mobilelegalapps
O Lists
O 25 Game-Changing iPad Apps for Law Students &
Lawyers: http://www.onlinecollege.org/25-game-
changing-ipad-apps-for-law-students-&-lawyers
O Top 10 Legal Apps for Smartphones:
http://www.sociablelawyer.org/top-10-legal-apps-for-
smart-phones-sociable-lawyer-round-up-week-of-april-
18th-91104
O The 8 Most Essential Free iPad Apps for Attorneys:
http://www.sociablelawyer.org/the-8-most-essential-free-
ipad-apps-for-attorneys-93522
7. Legal Research Apps
O Westlaw/WestlawNext
O LexisNexis/ Lexis Advance
O FastCase
O HeinOnline
O PACER (mobile website)
8. Westlaw/WestlawNext
O Platform:
O Cost: Free
O Access: Requires user
account
O Apps:
O WestlawNext
O Westlaw News & Insights
(iPhone, no user account
required)
O Mobile sites:
O Westlaw:
http://wireless.westlaw.com
O WestlawNext:
https://m.next.westlaw.com
9. LexisNexis
O Platform:
O Cost: Free
O Access: Some require user
account
O Apps:
O Lexis Advance HD
O CourtLink (subscription needed)
O LexisNexis Get Cases &
Shepardize (iPhone)
O LexisNexis Law School Q & A
O LexisNexis Legal News
O Legal News Briefs (subscription
needed)
O Mobile sites:
O Lexis.com:
http://w3.lexis.com/lexismobile
10. FastCase
O Platform:
O Cost: Free
O Access: Requires free user
account
O AZ State Bar membership
will provide more options
O Search case law and
statutes
O Integrated citation analysis
O Upgrade for more options
11. HeinOnline
O Platform:
O Cost: Free
O Access: IP
Authentication
O Must be on campus.
Currently cannot
access off campus.
O Search law reviews and
journals
O Citation navigator
O PDF articles
12. O Platform: All, browser-
based
O Cost: Free
O Access: Requires user
account
O Mobile site:
https://pcl.uscourts.gov/
searchmobile
13. Specifically Law-Related
Black’s Law Dictionary, 9th Ed. PocketJustice
Definitive legal reference resource! Abstracts of US supreme court
Cost: $54.99 decisions, audio files, and more!
Platform: Cost: FREE, Full version is $4.99
Platform:
DroidLaw / DLaw LawBox
Search, bookmark, share Federal US Code & AZ statutes
Rules (civpro, evidence etc). Cost: FREE
Available offline. Platform:
Cost: FREE, add-ons various prices
Platform:
LawStack Real Time Congress
US Constitution, Federal Rules, Live updates of legislative
after download get CFR, US Code, session.
state statutes. Cost: FREE
Cost: FREE Platform:
Platform:
14. Law-related Cont’d
ABA Journal Law Guide
Breaking legal news & articles. From TheLaw.com, legal
Cost: FREE dictionary, forms, bookmarks to
Platform: website.
Cost: FREE
Platform:
OpenRegs Congress+
Regulations published in Federal Info on current session &
Register. members.
Cost: FREE Cost: $4.99
Platform: Platform:
Oyez Today Congress
Latest info on pending US Supreme Info on current session &
Court cases. Audio oral arguments. members.
Cost: FREE Cost: FREE
Platform: Platform:
15. Law Student Apps
BARBRI The Federalist Papers
Multiple choice quiz on bar subjects. Good for 1Ls!
For enrolled BARBRI students. Cost: FREE
Cost: FREE, must be enrolled to Platform:
access.
Platform:
Kaplan MBE Flashcards Sum & Substance
Flashcards & instructional Audio recordings. Six available
videos topics. Visit West website.
Cost: FREE Costs: $49.99 to $59.99 per app.
Platform: Platform:
Law in a Flash
Flashcards of various topics.
Costs: $39.99- $59.99
Platform:
16. General Use
DropBox Read It Later
Save & share photos, docs, Link to web browser on PC to save
videos- accessible anywhere! webpages, then read later offline.
Cost: FREE Cost: FREE (Pro version $2.99)
Platform: Platform:
EverNote Reuters News Pro
Save notes, links etc. World, business, market
Cost: FREE news.
Platform: Cost: FREE
Platform:
FlipBoard Pulse News
RSS feed reader, magazine RSS reader. Sync between
style devices.
Cost: FREE Cost: FREE
Platform: Platform:
17. What are Your Favs?
O Can’t think of any now? When you do,
please share with us at:
O researchguides.phoenixlaw.edu/legalapps
18. Thank You!
O Questions? Contact Sarah Prosory:
O sprosory@phoenixlaw.edu
O 602.682.6824
O PowerPoint Slides & Handout can be
found on the Law Library TWEN page.
O Visit the LibGuide for continuing resources
and sharing!
O researchguides.phoenixlaw.edu/legalapps
Notas do Editor
An app is created by developers. There are some regulations to apps, depending on the platform. For example, Apple has to approve all apps whereas Android is open-source, meaning anyone can create an app and put it in the market.Platforms: Apple, Android, Amazon, Microsoft Windows, BlackberryApple has iPhones & iPadAndroid smartphones and Samsung Galaxy tabletAmazon has Android devicesWindows 7 phoneBlackberry smartphones & Playbook tabletAlso, Palm has smartphones and HP tablets- but we won’t be discussing that platform here.Often if one platform has the app, it will soon make the app for the other platforms. So if you find an app for an iPhone, you can check the Android Market to see if they have made the same app for Android phones. Also, most iPhone apps work on the iPad, they just aren’t full-screen.An app is created specifically for your device. A mobile website is browser-based, thus not platform dependent.An app is right at your fingertips, downloaded to your device. Whereas a mobile website you’d have to bookmark on your browser on your device in order to get back to it.Apps are usually simple and easy to use.However, many companies do not spend the money to create apps because they’d have to create one for each type of platform in order to cover all of their customers/clients. Word on the street is that mobile websites are going to replace apps as most commonly used- they can work on any device (through a browser) reaching more people, and requiring less work to maintain.iTunes AppStore, Android Market, Amazon (for Android devices and Kindle Fire), Windows Phone marketplace, Blackberry App World, Websites directlySearch for “law” or “legal”Most will provide you with “dummy laws” or “marijuana laws” first, as most downloaded. Keep digging until you find good apps.Once you find a good app, usually there will be an area of suggestions like “users also viewed” or “users also downloaded”These are good to keep browsing- use the wisdom of the crowdObviously free is awesome. However, free sometimes doesn’t mean it works that great. Most have a free version that has limitations on use. Always try the free version before buying, and read reviews.Caution! Apps are helpful, but should not be used to replace official sources of law. Also remember your research trail is not secure and can be tracked. You’re not behind a firewall.Best advice: start with one or two apps, become familiar with them, and decide to keep them or not. If they aren’t used often, better to dump them. Begin with suggestions & reviews- next slide!
Word-of-mouth is always best to find good apps- if a friend recommends it, you most likely will agree.Some PSL professors are into using iPads- ask around.The use of technology is growing in the legal profession. Many lawyers take tablets with them to court. There are lots of books and articles about social media lawyers. Those lawyers would be good to follow on Twitter or their blog for tips on using social media in the practice of law. Thus, they would be good to recommend apps!Use the Google Blog search to find current posts in blogs that sometimes talk about legal apps. While some of the blogs are platform specific, they may talk of apps that you can find on other platforms too. Government website that lists government apps! Recalls.gov, USAJobs, Members of Congress, and more!
Mobile Apps for Law- a database of legal apps, for all platforms, for legal research, and legal utility. Updated regularly. Requires subscription- $25 for one year access.
All are Apple platform only at this time. Westlaw, Lexis, and PACER have mobile sites you can use with your browser.
News & Insights app- select practice areas (bankruptcy, CA legal, Legal, NY legal, and securities). RSS feed of Thomson Reuters legal news.
CourtLink- review new court docket Alert & Track activity. Does not work with law school account; must purchase a subscription.No login/user account needed for Get Cases & Shepardize and Law School Q & ALaw School Q & A – are the study aid materials from the Question & Answer series. Mostly just preview, but you can purchase the books for viewing on your iPad.Legal News- requires account creation, just email, name, and phone number