A lawyer is a licensed practitioner in a court of Law who meets the requirements to defend or prosecute clients, advise their clients on legal matters and draft legal documents like appeals, contracts, wills, etc. it is required that you get admitted into the bar of a particular territorial jurisdiction and upon completion of exam, pass and get licensed.
What are digital Kits?
Digital kits for lawyers are electronic tools designed for individuals in the legal profession. They are applications and gadgets designated for the purpose of making work easier and faster.
Examples Of Digital Kits
• One Drive
One drive is an online personal storage. It is used to save documents and other files in the cloud, share them with colleagues and collaborate on content. It has 5GB space offered by Microsoft for free. If you’re working remotely and using your smartphone, cloud data is highly recommended because it lets you have access to your data from anywhere.
• Evernote
Evernote is a cross-platform developed by the Evernote corporation for Android, iOS, MacOS, and Microsoft Windows. It is an app designed for capturing ideas, note-taking, task management and it also serves as a digital file cabinet. Evernote integrates with your smartphone’s camera. For lawyers who may want to scan documents, It can be used to remove creases in folded documents.
• Fast Case
Fast Case is a legal research service that puts an all-encompassing national law library at the tips of your fingers. It includes case law, constitutions, regulations, statutes, court rules, and legal reviewed articles. It Is easy to use and brings the best results no matter the case you search for. It has other features like citation analysis. It integrates citation analysis into search results and lets you know the number of times your search results have been cited.
• Skype
Skype is a video calling and messaging app that allows practicing lawyers to work remotely. It is a good tool if you’re searching for a way to video chat from your smart phone, computer or tablet. It has features like screen sharing, video call recording, and location sharing.
• Zoom
Zoom remains one of the best video calling application worldwide. During the pandemic, court proceedings went virtual and was carried out mainly with the Zoom app. It has features like screen sharing, host controls, HD video and audio, group meetings and most importantly, it can host up to 1000 participants.
• Good reader
Good reader is an app that allows you to review documents electronically. It syncs with Dropbox and offers you storage to add all legal case documents after highlighting, adding notes, and comments on your documents.
• Law dictionary
The law dictionary by TheLaw.com has over 22,000 legal terms, their definitions, and abbreviations. It is renowned as one of the most comprehensive online legal dictionaries and directories.
• Slack
Searchable Log Of All Communication And Knowledge ( Slack) is a communication platform owned by Sales force. It is a renowned communication app used in law firms. Its features include sharing, collaboration, and opportunities to create rooms called channels that bring information and people together for a project.
Task Management Tools
These applications allow users to manage their tasks from a tablet, smartphone or computer. Examples of task management applications includes ;
1.Trello,
2.Click up,
3. Todoist,
4. Any.do,
5. Quire.
Research Tools
Research tools are designed for quick access to relevant information. Examples of research tools are;
1. Case text – Case text is one research tool recommended for practicing lawyers. Its features allow Lawyers to upload legal documents and case text will find relevant cases for the Lawyer.
2. Ravel law – This is a research tool that allows lawyers to see how judges have previously ruled on cases beforehand.
What Gadgets Should Lawyers Have?
• Smartphone
Smart phones have become very popular in recent years. There are a lot of benefits to having a smartphone, far more than most people realize. The biggest advantage of a smartphone is that you are always connected. A smartphone can act as a portable office for you, making phone calls and sending emails. You can also download documents or create new ones if you need to. There is also a daily planner that you can use to stay organized. With a smart phone you don’t have to be in the office to do your work. It allows easy access to the internet, you can listen to music, read e-books, send emails and work remotely.
• Laptop
Owning a laptop is of great advantage as laptops have exclusive features like storage and great battery life needed to keep up with the numerous hours of online researches.
• Portable phone charger
A portable phone charger which is also called a power bank is a reusable battery that can be used to charge various devices like a smartphone or laptop. They come in a variety of forms and battery capacities that is measured in milliamp-hours. The battery capacities range between 2,000mAh to 5,000mAh. It is called portable because of its size and how easy it can be carried about. Since Lawyers are in constant need of their phones or laptops, it is crucial to have a power bank available for situations where your laptop battery may dwindle. Having a portable charger allows you to continue working while waiting for a wall plugin.
• Dictation devices
A dictation device is a sound recording machine often used to record speeches. It has features like recording, note-taking, and organizing spoken information. For lawyers who may be slow in typing or may want to keep themselves busy while away from their computers, A dictation device can facilitate writing, editing, and commenting on documents.
• Hard drive
Hard drive is a hardware component of a computer used to store digital information ranging from pictures, documents, music, and videos. It is a handy digital tool because of its vast memory, some containing as much space as a terabyte. It is handy and easy to carry about in bags and purses and is connected to smartphones and laptops with the use of USB cables.
Being a Lawyer in the United States requires you to have certain skills like organizational skills, technical skills, time management skills, written communication skills, etc. Most of which cannot be acquired without digital tools.