As companies shift to paperless offices, dozens of legal apps have been developed to make it possible for legal personnel to easily work from their phones, laptops and tablets without being confined in the office.

Regardless of where they are, these apps enable lawyers, barristers and associates to work remotely. In fact, considering the nature of their work, most of these applications are almost becoming a must-have.

Here are a few:

1. FileSharing

Legal personnel tend to work with large file documents some of which require to be carried while others need to be transferred or shared. To make their work easier, lawyers can use an online file sharing platform such as

We recommend checking the encryption capability of any file transfer platform and go for a paid system with increased security measures better suited to legal firms.

2.

This a free new app for deposition. It relieves lawyers the need for paperwork since a deponent can receive pdf files as well as upload files with each concluded deposition. An agilelaw.com account is a must in order to perform deposition using this app.

3.

For paralegals and lawyers, keeping track of time, dates, and court cases is very important, yet very challenging. The Case Manager app helps in practice management by enabling the aggregation of all work in this one application. At quite a low cost point, this app will enable you to remain abreast of all your daily tasks. Additionally, users can archive legal notes and documents and review them later from anywhere.

4.

American lawyers are lucky to have such a great app for legal research on cases Americawide. Other than it being a free app, its search speed is impressive and offers access to both State and Federal legal precedents.

This iPad app enables lawyers to do legal research from anywhere. A similar app in the US is Westlawwhich has a super friendly interface and is compatible with both Android and iOS. SBA Legal hasn’t seen an Australian-based version at this stage, but we will stay on the lookout!

In the meantime,

6.

Lexicata is a CRM for law firms that help in task management and organization as well as aiding in maximizing efficiency. It is an essential app for lawyers working in a fast-paced environment where one has to deal with a large client workflow. Though it is a paid app, its worth it considering that it helps you in the heavy lifting, such as; streamlining intake, referral tracking, document automation, market analysis, and data collection among others.

7.

This app allows for instant internal chat communication between the members of an organization through both its online and desktop version. It also allows users to message coworkers individually, in groups, or all at once. Slack also provides its users with the ability to include colleagues in specific channels geared around certain subjects, case types, or virtually anything else. For example, a large firm may create a channel specifically for paralegals and another for divorce attorneys. Communication is crucial for any successful business, and Slack is a fantastic option available to optimize your firm’s internal chats.

8.

Zapier, when harnessed by your practice management software, can make for a firm-changing development. Zapier serves as a middleman between your practice management software and over a thousand different apps and platforms. This means that, even if your software does not integrate directly with your favorite app, Zapier will serve to connect the two, thereby effectively creating the integration for you.

9.

Evernote is widely known by the reductive description, “note-taking app.” In reality, it’s so much more than that. In short: yes, Evernote both simplifies and automates notes. However, it also enables its users to annotate documents, as well as save articles and publications. It also automatically syncs any changes to every device on which you access Evernote, meaning that updates are comprehensive and instantaneous. Evernote places your notes into various notebooks or tags. The notes themselves aren’t limited to text- they can include videos, images, and various other media. These are only a fraction of the functionality Evernote offers to legal professionals and entrepreneurs.

Conclusions

There is an App for everything! Though this can seem overwhelming, it is actually a gold mine of opportunity. Legal professionals throughout the world have unprecedented amounts of platforms available to perform any functionality at the tips of their fingers. By starting off with this short-list of the essential apps every lawyer should have on their device, you’ll be poised to automate your firm and maximize more productivity than ever before.

Working with these mobile apps, makes it possible for legal practitioners to save more of their billable time and have increased productivity.

If you are looking at these or other apps in your department or company, have a chat to SBA about how we can help with strategy, implementation and adoption.