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Law Technology Today

2017

Top Five Free Legal Apps for Your Smartphone

Jean Philippe Belanger

Summary

  • It is crucial to have smartphone apps that are useful in day to day running of things. This is because we use our phones regularly and having extra help from apps that we can access is even better.
  • Having certain smartphone apps minimizes that cost and aids us with legal decisions.
  • Lawyers, clients, and other professionals can find legal apps that will suit all their needs. Here are the top free legal apps for your smartphone:
Top Five Free Legal Apps for Your Smartphone
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The law is an important aspect of human life. However, it is also complicated. The complex nature of law explains why law students undertake extensive studies before they become lawyers. On the other hand, everyone else needs to study the law as well. Whether you are a doctor, a stay-at-home mom, an engineer, or a city planner, you will need to know the constitution and the laws applying to various professions. Fortunately, studying the law can be easy.  Lawyers, clients, and other professionals can find legal apps that will suit all their needs. Here are the top free legal apps for your smartphone:

Fastcase

Fastcase ensures that you carry the law library with you wherever you go. Find cases for any state and the federal government by keyword, citation, or search for statute collections. Type in the keyword; choose the state of your interest, type in the date the case fell between, and any other details that will make your search more accurate. Once you find your case, save it for later use. You can also revisit your current searches to find documents you did not save. Here are its other features:

Authority check: select this feature when searching for cases to find out the number of times a case has been cited. It also provides the number of cases in the search result that have cited that case.

Mobile sync: this feature links your mobile and desktop account. Therefore, you can access saved cases and recent searches from your desktop and print t

Benefits

  • Access statutes and cases.
  • Easy to use filter

Cons

  • Requires an account to access cases or statutes.
  • Cases are sometimes not saved.
  • It is difficult to back to search.

This is a free app that requires an account. It is available for both iOS and Android.

Picture It Settled Lite

This is a meditation and negotiation tool that helps lawyers assess and solve cases by means of statistics and probability sciences. Here are its features:

It helps lawyers keep track of offers made by every side of the negotiation. These offers have a date and time stamp on them.

The app offers a graph showing the offers over time and a prediction of future offers. Predictions are made using algorithm based on the offers made before. This app also foretells the final amount that both sides will settle on and the date and time of the final settlement. As a result, lawyers can plan their next move with ease.

This free app is available for Android and iOS.

Ask a Lawyer

Ask a lawyer provides an easy and fast way to get advice on the go. Simply sign up and chat with a lawyer online. Since it can take long to log in and begin chatting, it is advisable to use the Find a lawyer feature. Enter your location and the field in require legal aid in and the app will present you with brief profiles of lawyers within your category. You can save the lawyers you would like to get in touch with or you can call them directly via the app.

This app is ideal for people who want access to possible representation and have their questions answered for free. This app is available for both Android and iOS.

Benefits

  • Instant chatting with a lawyer.
  • Find a lawyer in your location.
  • Save your preferred lawyer

Cons

  • It takes a while to log in.
  • Sometimes questions are not transmitted.
  • Possible bug issues.

This app is available for both Android and iOS.

BernieSez

Get instant legal aid by simply uploading a photo of your case on the BernieSez app. For instance, you can upload a photo of your traffic ticket, DUI, or DWI. Enter basic information such as offense code, state, county, city, officer’s comments, ticket number, and so on.

Once you have uploaded you case, competing lawyers will review it and communicate their fees to you. View the profiles, prices, and client reviews of the lawyers who have made offers. You can also chat with lawyers and get fast answers to your questions.

Make a decision and pick your favorite lawyer. Discuss the case, court dates and other details with the lawyer you have chosen.

This app also allows lawyers to search for particular cases and bid for those they are interested in.

Benefits

  • Easy to use.
  • Fast access to legal aid.
  • Efficient.
  • Ability to choose the best bid.

Cons

  • Sometimes users can fail to find a bid that suits them.

This app is available to iPhone users for free.

Law Dictionary

Law dictionary is an app that makes the law easy to read and understand. Simply type in the word you want to look up. The app allows you to bookmark it, save it for later use, or utilize the references it offers for further information. It also has a resources feature that allows you to access thelaw.com. This site allows you to access the law journal, find a lawyer, find legal forms, and obtain a case review.

Benefits

  • Search for any law word.
  • Bookmark your favorite words.
  • Access thelaw.com

Cons

  • Lacks a search bar.
  • Fails to place words into context

This free app is available for both Android and iOS.

Conclusion

It is crucial to have smartphone apps that are useful in day to day running of things. This is because we use our phones regularly and having extra help from apps that we can access is even better. We are faced with legal dilemmas daily no matter which profession we are in. It may be costly to have a lawyer at your beck and call anytime you need some legal advice. Having these smartphone apps minimizes that cost and aids us with our legal decisions.