By Christi McGowan and Christine Stansall
Almost every attorney uses a smartphone for work, and that smartphone is usually an iPhone. If you use an iPhone, it’s not a big leap to shift to an iPad. Think about how you would use an iPad throughout your day. Do you prefer handwritten or typed notes? Do you email to send documents back and forth, or use filesharing? Do you need an iPad for trial? Do you want to use the cloud or keep everything local on the iPad? Many apps are free so you don’t suffer from buyer’s remorse, and can also sync across devices so you can shift from device to device. Although most of the apps mentioned in this article are for Apple devices, some are compatible with Androids.
File Organization
Dropbox, Box, OneDrive and Google Drive store your files in the cloud. Files typically sync across devices but it can take time for the syncing to complete. You can edit some file types within the app. Some apps are a scanner where you can scan pages and save as a PDF or image file. GoodReader can link to other filesharing apps so you can access files stored in other apps and play audio and video files within that app.
PDF Management
Adobe Acrobat Reader, PDF Reader and iAnnotate open PDFs and annotate, highlight and add signatures. You can also link to a filesharing app and access the PDF files in that app. iAnnotate appeals to lawyers who want to go paperless because it can import other file types, open documents from email, fill out forms, sign contracts, make notes and mark documents through highlighting or underlining.
Note Taking
Attorneys must take notes throughout their day, whether by hand or typing. With its Apple Pencil, Apple has developed a stylus but it only works with the iPad Pro models. Typing can be accomplished with any Bluetooth-connected keyboard. GoodNotes and Notes Plus have handwriting recognition, note organization and searching. Penultimate can integrate with other apps such as Dropbox and Everlaw. EverNote takes notetaking a step further and can include checklists, snippets of web pages, audio recordings and pictures.
Time Keeping
iTimeKeep integrates with almost any billing program and allows billers to enter their time while on the go. This is a lifesaver when you end up doing something out of the blue and you don’t want to forget to bill for it.
Annotation
Liquid Text is a great app to annotate, highlight and comment on different types of source documents. You can view highlights only, search key terms and pull excerpts to find the source. In addition, the scrolling feature is helpful, in that you can hold your place on one page, while scrolling through the rest of the document. Color coding is helpful for issue coding.
Voire Dire
JuryStar Law helps you conduct voir dire. While developed for law students in mock trial, attorneys have found a use for it. You can create topics and questions; integrate the lines of questioning with notes kept
on each juror; document juror responses; document group responses with a single touch; assign a value to both individual and group responses; rank favorable and unfavorable jurors; and assess those rankings on a single screen.
Legal Research
Both Westlaw/Lexis have iPad apps. While it’s convenient to have your case law at your fingertips in the courtroom, be sure that you have an internet connection to be able to search the case library.
Document Review
The iPad really shines when it is used for litigation, especially document review, depositions and trial. Lit Software has a bundle that handles these three things well. TrialPad has become the leading iPad app for trial presentations. You can load it with exhibits and call up an exhibit by the exhibit number, Bates number or other fields; exhibits are searchable. TranscriptPad automatically creates folders and organizes transcripts with exhibits according to deponent name and date to easily locate a transcript. You can review exhibits without losing your page or your train of thought. You can annotate the transcripts, tag them with issues and create reports. DocReviewPad allows you to review documents, assign Bates numbers, generate reports and create production sets. You can import your universe of documents, assign custom Bates numbers with up to six letters and nine numbers that automatically increment on every page, then review the documents and assign built-in tags. You can also create your own custom color-coded issue codes to tag documents.
No matter which iPad or apps you use, give yourself time to adjust as you get used to new workflows. An iPad means you can have just about everything you need to practice at the tip of your finger. An iPad is lighter compared to a briefcase crammed with files and binders. Attorneys are always looking for ways to better serve their clients. An iPad is a perfect tool to do just that.
Christi McGowan is the Director of Operations at eDiscovery Litigation Support Specialists and Christine Stansall is the Litigation Support Analyst at Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch.
This article originally appeared in the March/April 2018 issue of San Diego Lawyer.
Image courtesy of #WOCinTech Chat