Attorney Jessica is headed to court for an important hearing. However, this trip is different than previous ones when she would haul multiple folders, notebooks and sometimes even boxes of case material. Today, she’s armed with one key tool: her iPad.

Traveling to the courthouse by train, Jessica pulls out her iPad and fires up the WestlawNext iPad app she recently downloaded. While sitting on the train, she uses the app to carefully review legal authority pivotal to the contested issues. She is always excellently prepared, so she checks the pertinent case/matter folder within the app, confident that all the legal authority she had saved there was automatically updated with the most recent KeyCite® (good/bad law) status indicators.

During the hearing, opposing counsel, Mark, cites a case to support a particular proposition. In mere seconds, Jessica finds the case using her WestlawNext iPad app and immediately discovers that it was overruled for that proposition earlier that same day. She notes the changed status of the law to the judge. Mark is only just made aware that he has cited overruled authority to the court. He feels unprepared and a bit embarrassed.

The judge asks to see this case.

Within the app, Jessica highlights the relevant section(s) and also adds a note to the case, specifically referencing its overruled status. Then, using the email delivery feature, Jessica immediately sends all relevant authority with her notes and highlighting to the judge and to Mark. She also saves that case in a personalized folder for future reference. If she wishes to review the document later in an area where she does not have a wireless connection, she can save the document to her offline folder within the app before she goes offline.

Jessica prevails at the hearing based on the law and the judge rules in her favor. Big reasons for her win include: solid preparation, excellent research skills, and her savvy use of the latest mobile technologies, including the WestlawNext iPad app.

The 2011 ABA Technology Survey found that around 300,000 U.S. lawyers use an iPhone and about 130,000 use an iPad. Recent news reports note that some major law firms have deployed iPads throughout their organizations in an effort to increase the productivity and efficiency of their lawyers who use their iPads to log client time; edit, store and deliver documents; conduct legal research on the go; and so much more.

New technologies like the iPad and the WestlawNext app make it easy to do all these things and more while you are on the go.

Dinyar Mehta, director, WestlawNext Product Development