If you are anything like me then you love your iPhone. In my opinion, what makes this device the best piece of mobile tech out there is the ability to add downloadable applications (Apps”). There are literally hundreds of thousands of them available in the App Store, many for free, which give you so many new ways to use your phone. I’m happy to report that LexisNexis has joined the ranks, releasing our very first iPhone App. Oh, and did I mention that it is free?
It is called “Get Cases and Shepardize,” and (as you may have guessed) allows users to get cases from Lexis.com and Shepardize them to make sure what they have found is still good law. Users must have a current account with Lexis.com and a valid password to use the application.
This app allows users to:
- Find and review a case instantly by reading the Case Brief – an overview of the issues, rules, and reasoning (written by LexisNexis experts) just by entering its citation.
- Get an at-a-glance indication of how closely they need to evaluate the case with Shepard’s Signal™ Indicators.
- Get an overview of a case’s legal treatment up front by viewing the Shepard’s Summary, right at the top of your Shepard’s reports.
The app is available for anyone to download for free online at the iTunes App Store, (note: you must be upgraded to at least the iPhone 3.1 firmware to download the app). We hope that you like the first of our LN Apps and welcome your feedback on it.
Want you to tell us what the next LN App should be? Members of Martindale-Hubbell Connected can share their suggestions on this forum post in our community. Not yet a member? Sign up today, membership is free!
{ 4 trackbacks }
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Carolyn took the words right out of my mouth (or typing fingers). Thanks for clarifying this – hidden charges are still charges. I wondered while reading if the app connected you to the free LexisONE, and would love to see this as a free alternative. Also, you might want to reconsider your target audience: there are plenty of practicing lawyers out there who might be very interested in the app and they generally have more money for shiny toys like the iPhone than the average student.
Martha
Thanks for the feedback Martha. While the app is free the subscription to LexisNexis does cost money. That being said, we’d hate to think of our app as having “hidden charges.” It is 100% free to download. Perhaps one thing we can do in future versions of the app is to create a “lite” version of the App that lets you pull citations and the straight case (no editorial content or Shepard’s)? This reminds me of what mobile gaming companies do when they release a “free” version of a game (really just a demo) or when you can get a lite version of a program (often with slimmed down content and features). Would this appeal to you? Some other apps I’ve thought of that I’d like to see us do: Martindale-Hubbell Connected mobile version (similar to mobile Facebook), mobile statute finder (USCS annotated, state codes, CFR), and Time Matters companion (a mobile version that lets you take your billing/time tracking on the go). What other apps do you think we should do?
Much as I like this app, I’d hardly say that it’s free. If you have to have a LEXIS PW and account, then you need to be a paid subscriber (unless LEXISone.com accounts qualify). Can you please qualify if it’s really free, or just free to already paying customers?
Carolyn Elefant
That’s a good point Carolyn. The App itself is free, but to get the most value out of it (or any for that matter) you need to be a Lexis subscriber. If you think about it though, the App becomes a real value add to existing customers (we are not charging anything extra for them to access data via their phone). Our target audience with the App in the first instance has been law students. As you may or may not know all law students have access to Lexis.com accounts so for them the App and it’s contents are 100% free. It would be great to hear suggestions for future Apps that you’d like to see – perhaps a version of this one that has free data, similar to what we post on LexisONE? Feel free to post here or in Connected via the link above. Thanks for your feedback!