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Now that lawyers are increasingly using tablet computers in and out of the courtroom, the latest Lawyers USA technology roundup takes a look at some new applications that can benefit practitioners:
* TrialPad and Evidence
TrialPad promises to "Turn your iPad into a powerful courtroom ally," and is intended to allow electronic evidence to be presented in an affordable way.
The app allows lawyers to organize various types of documents as exhibits for trial, as well as annotate, highlight or redact relevant portions. Each case receives its own folder, which contains a document list on the left and a preview window on the right. Documents can be imported through e-mail or iTunes, although TrialPad works exclusively with Adobe Acrobat files.
Switching the output setting to "on" readies TrialPad for trial presentation, and users can select a background color (black, white or gradient). The features of the iPad itself - touch-screen capability and great graphics - help make this app work well in the courtroom. While presenting a document, for example, tapping the screen allows you to zoom in on an image, and touching and expanding can make the image larger.
The annotation tools allow a user to highlight or "write" with a pen - circle a phrase, for example - or redact information. Once connected to a projector, lawyers can play documents like a slideshow or even pause and search for another document.
TrialPad is available at iTunes for $89.99.
Another recently launched image presentation app, Evidence, costs only $9.99, significantly less than TrialPad. But it requires the most recent software for the iPad and cannot be downloaded otherwise....