November 9, 2012

Apps for Law Students

As the practice of law, like many businesses, becomes more mobile—indeed, some attorneys have even begun entirely virtual practices—attorneys are helped along by apps that can organize their documents, time and budgets.

Law students are also juggling time constraints, documents, and a (much smaller) budget. I was recently asked what apps I use to make my life easier. Here are four that I can’t live without:

Google Calendar: I have tried several calendar apps as well as paper planners, and Google calendar has been the best fit for me. It allows me to set up recurring events like classes, organize events by color, make appointments with others, and even plug information from email invitations into a time slot. I was also able to sync the calendar with my iPhone, which allows me to view my schedule and make appointments on the go.
Dropbox: There are many remote storage options out there, and Dropbox is one I have tried and like. I signed up for their free option which offers a few MB of storage (perfect for school documents). They also have an iPhone app which allows you to view your documents on the go. I keep syllabi on there and can refer to them when I’m studying at school. Definitely much better than an easy-to-lose flash drive or emailing documents to yourself!
Awesome Note: I have always been in the habit of writing reminders to myself and creating to-do lists, but never have been very organized about it. Lists often end up in the margins of other notes or on scraps of paper—not very effective. I found the Awesome Note app about a year ago and it has really helped. I can write reminders and to-do lists which even places reminders in my calendar on their due dates. I can also categorize the notes and share and print them.
LearnVest: LearnVest is an online service designed for women to help them with various aspects of financial planning. They have a budget tool that helps you map out a monthly budget, including different types of expenses like groceries, bills, etc., and keep track of your purchases to stay within that budget. They recently came out with the LearnVest iPhone App that makes this process much easier, which has all of this information right on your phone.

The law school experience can be overwhelming for many in juggling both one’s schedule and one’s finances. Take advantage of these apps or other technology to make your life a bit easier!