South Carolina Trial Law Blog

We have a guest post from Kelly Kilpatrick, who writes on the subject of the colleges for criminal justice. I wasn’t familiar with their site before talking to Kelly, but she has a very comprehensive site for anyone wanting a criminal justice degree, regardless of where you live, or whether you want to be in a regular classroom, take classes by correspondence or take on-line courses. Now, if they would just do on-line law school, we’d be all set. Thanks for the post and take it away Kelly:

With the recent release of the iPhone G3 in July 2008, many people in the general public scrambled to get their hands on one of these innovative new devices. It boasts three features in one: G3 internet connectivity, cell phone, and iPod all in one small device.

Naturally, for gadget lovers out there, the ability to streamline your digital arsenal is an attractive benefit of the iPhone. However, there are many free or relatively inexpensive applications that you can run on the new iPhone that are very beneficial for lawyers. Here are five of the best of those applications—and the best part is that they’re all free.

1. Jott for iPhone: Use this application to turn you iPhone into a powerful voice recorder that turns whatever you say into written notes. Perfect for on-the-go note taking, or transcribing conversations. Simply touch anywhere on the record screen, then tap again to stop recording. Use Jott to create to-do lists that can be crossed out with the swipe of a finger and back up your notes on the Jott server for free. Jott is constantly being revised and via your Jott account you can now send hands-free texts and emails as well.
2. Air Sharing for iPhone: This application allows you to take any of your documents with you on the go. View Word, Excel, jpegs, and much more at the touch of a button. This application makes flash drives a thing of the past—and you get to view to the document on demand. The application is compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux, and uses included software to transfer files straight to your phone without having to connect your iPhone to your computer at all, hence the Air Sharing name. Upload files quickly and easily to your iPhone for fast and easy access.
3. Remote Desktop Lite: Especially convenient for users of Microsoft XP Professional, this application allows you to access your work computer from your iPhone. The application runs off of wiFi, or the phone’s network, and is fully secure. With this and other applications, the need to lug your laptop around is virtually eliminated. Set up your iPhone to use your remote desktop and see everything on your computer, just on a smaller screen. The setup and use of the program is simple and quick, and keeps you in touch with everything you need from your home or office computer.
4. Evernote: Now you can take your note taking to a new level with this application. Type in text, take a snapshot, or record your voice to add to your notes. This excellent tool ensures that you get the most amount of information recorded as possible, so you have everything you need when you return to the application. The best thing about this application is that once you set up your free Evernote account, you can access the pictures, text, and sound recordings from any computer or web-enabled mobile device, in addition to your iPhone. Since it is web-based, you never have to worry about losing your notes again—they’ll always be backed up.
5. iProcrastinate: Don’t let the name fool you. This software is an excellent task management tool for people who are constantly moving. Let the application keep you on track and manage your time more wisely with iProcrastinate. Rather than having a whole lot of fluffed-up features, iProcrastinate is intuitively written and is extremely easy to use. You can use it for the simplest to the most daunting of scheduling tasks with the greatest of ease. Color-code your schedule for ease of locating what you need, when you need it. This is an amazing tool that will help keep your mind at ease when you need to know what’s coming next.

Find out more about these applications and more by either visiting the iTunes store, or online at at the Apple App Store. If you have any questions, you can reach Kelly at kellykilpatrick24 at gmail dot com. 

Thanks again for the great tips, Kelly.

It's interesting that the apps you chose for 1-4 all provide wireless connection to their data so you can connect and access it from anywhere. With iProcrastinate you only have data locally and doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the apps. I would recommend Appigo's Todo in place of iProcrastinate. It seems to fit in better with your other choices, syncs to the cloud, and has a much cleaner interface.

Hi - take a look at our website - time & billing software completely web-based, with an iPhone application also, allowing you to record time & expenses and do more from your iphone. we have hundreds of small firms using it.

Every single one of these apps makes me want to buy an iPhone. My main trial presentation laptop is a macbook pro and my personal is a macbook. Sometimes I feel like apple is taking over my life like google is!

But no, I stick with my blackberry due superior email and the iPhone's lack of a physical keyboard.

Sorry I've stumbled upon this post so late. Great info!

Although not available when this post was published, I would also add the Skype application. If you use Skype for your law practice/business, you can now take your business number(s), contact list, and all your other Skype information with you on your iPhone. Moreover, you don't have to forward calls to your mobile anymore while you're out of the office. It's extremely convenient, and it's free!