News Post

State Bar Unveils Free Web-Based App For Mobile Devices; Attys Can Get Last-Minute Research That Could Prove Decisive

Montgomery, Alabama, February 15, 2012 – Alabama lawyers can now access on-the-go information with a free, mobile web-based application for the bar’s Member Directory as well as Formal Ethics Opinions issued by the Office of General Counsel.

State Bar President James R. Pratt, III, of Birmingham (Hare Wynn Newell & Newton LLP) said, “Mobile computing has made a waiting lawyer into a working lawyer. The demands of the profession require lawyers to be linked to a range of mobile devices so they can maintain an unbroken connection beyond nine-to-five.”

With this free resource, regardless of the type of mobile device, users can now locate general contact information about all members admitted to practice, search for elected officials, and review pertinent ethics opinions. The opinions themselves contain specific references to sections of the Rules of Professional Conduct which govern the daily ethical and business behavior of members.

Web-based apps are similar to apps that users can download from online app stores. The advantage is that one app works on all mobile devices, instead of having to create a different app for each device platform. Pratt said the bar analyzed the metrics for the total number of pageviews the directory and ethics opinions pages receive in a given month (a combined 128,000) and concluded those were among the most-used web resources.

The ASB’s mobile web-based app is the newest in the bar’s planned strategy to provide the latest technological tools and services to members. The state bar offers members free legal research through Casemaker; discounted subscriptions to both Clio and Rocket Matter, cloud-based practice management systems designed especially for solo and small firm practitioners; cloud-based back-up and recovery via Corevault, and time and billing software from EasySoft.

The application was developed by Kittay New Media, a full-service multimedia company based in Clifton Park, NY.

The 17,000-member Alabama State Bar is dedicated to improving the administration of justice and increasing public understanding and respect for the law.