Archive for category Tablets
Fastcase: Research on the iPad
Posted by Ken in Applications, Digital Office, Reviews, Tablets on August 1, 2010
Fastcase is now offering a free research service on the iPad. While most of you are probably familiar with Lexis and Westlaw, Fastcase is a service those of us in Virginia are familiar with because it has a contract with our Bar to allow us free legal research. It’s a solid service which provides every basic need that a courtroom attorney would need.
The app on the iPad is free with an option to pay money to get some additional services. However, the free services are pretty much everything you’d need for quick, off the cuff research of caselaw or statutes while you are in a courtroom.
(note: click on the images in order to view them full size)
When you first log in you are given a choice between searching caselaw, searching statutes, or browsing statutes. Note that the interface has large enough, simply laid out options so that you don’t have to zoom in or tap the screen several times in order to hit the button you are trying to hit.
The search page gives you a number of fairly standard options to select from. Among other things, these allow you to choose the jurisdiction you are searching, the dates for the search, and how you want the results sorted. When you tap on one of the selections it will give you a menu which allows you to scroll through and further hone your choices. After that, you tap in the spot for the entry of the search terms and the on-screen keyboard pops up to let you enter your search terms.
Once you’ve entered your search term, you have get a screen which is a list of possible cases to view (or statute if you are searching statutes). Each has a brief quote from the case including the search term you enter in order to help you decide which case you want to view. Once you tap on a case, it pulls that case up on the screen and your search terms are highlighted.
All-in-all, this is an excellent tool for in court usage (when you desperately need to find that case) or on the road when you need to look up a case while traveling. It will not displace the need for your laptop or desktop when you are writing briefs, petitions, etc., but it’s a useful tool for those occasions when you can’t just whip the laptop out and start typing away.
iAnnotate PDF for iPad
Posted by Ron in Digital Office, Mobile Computing, Scanning, Smartphones, Tablets on June 1, 2010
If you’ve read our iPad Interface and Court Records post, you know that every document our office handles eventually ends up in PDF form. That post generated so much traffic to our site we went over our bandwidth limit for the month twice. We really appreciate all of the responses and encouragement. Based on the iPad court records post, I was contacted by Geoff from Aji, the developers of many great iPhone/iPod/iPad apps. One such app is iAnnotate, and I couldn’t be happier with it. iAnnotate is a PDF reader/editor, better described by Aji:
iAnnotate is both an elegant PDF reader and a powerful annotation tool that finally lets you work with your PDFs. You can open documents from email, sign and send out contracts fast, enter notes for edits, sketch diagrams, copy text, and add highlights or underline with the drag of a finger!
Aji has a great overview with some “how to” material available on Youtube HERE.
I’ve been using iAnnotate for about a week now, and it has improved my iPad workflow. There really is no other app like it anywhere in the app store. While I’m not going to do an intensive review, I am going to show you how I’ve been using iAnnotate in the real world, especially when I really needed it in an important case recently.
Since iTunes now supports two way file transfers, that’s the method I’ve been using to place most of my PDF files in the iAnnotate app. You can also import them from your DropBox, GoodReader, mail, etc…. accounts by the simple “open in” feature. I have not tried Aji’s PDF reader service, so I cannot comment on its functionality, but below is a sample from my DropBox account.
iPad Interface and Court Records
Posted by Ron in .PDF, Cloud, Digital Office, E-Filing, Mobile Computing, Mobile Sites, Tablets on April 7, 2010
iPad’s are working flawlessly in the Court and Office setting. I’ve attached screen shots below for for the benefit of any body that uses the local system.
Our Circuit Court allows remote access to Court files for attorneys to the cases they are attorney of record on. Our office case management system is basically a website we host on our intranet, allowing any device with a browser to access and open case files.
The iPad works great for those functions, allowing me to open any active or closed case in the last 10 years, view the documents in those case files, and even play the audio and look at any photos contained in them. All of the screenshots below are directly from the iPad’s interface. Click any picture to open it in the native iPad resolution.
Landscape Screen:
Portrait Screen:
PC Mag’s initial iPad review
Posted by Ron in Cloud, Digital Office, Mobile Computing, Tablets on March 31, 2010
With the impending release of the iPad, reviews are beginning to pop up. PC Mag just posted a short video review that is worth a look if you are interested.
PCMag: Apple iPad video review from PCMag.com Reviews on Vimeo.
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