Review: Fed. R. Civ. Pro. and others

Cliff Maier of WaffleTurtle Software has written several iPhone apps that give you the text of commonly used parts of the U.S. Code.  As a litigator, the one I find the most useful is FRCP, a $1.99 $2.99 app that gives you the full text of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, so I will discuss it first.  I list below several other apps from Cliff Maier including "Bankruptcy" -- an app that iPhone J.D. reader John Rogers told me is indispensable to his bankruptcy law practice.

The interface of FRCP is simple.  Start the app and you are presented with Titles I through XI (plus a link to the Hague Conventions on service abroad, taking evidence abroad and civil procedure).  Tap on a title and you see a list of all of the rules under that title.  Tap on a rule to see the full text of the rule (for shorter rules) or a list of the subsections that you can tap for the full text of a subsection.

The app has a useful search feature.  For example, if you search for the term "summary judgment" you see a list that includes not only subparts of Rule 56 (the summary judgment rule) but also Rule 41(a)(i)'s provision that a plaintiff may voluntarily dismiss an action without a court order by filing a notice of dismissal before the opposing party serves either an answer or an MSJ.  The app starts to search as you type each letter of your search terms.  This is good because you don't even have to type a complete word to find something, but the downside is that the app does become unresponsive for a second or two while it is searching and you are trying to type.  [UPDATE 12-11-2008:  Version 1.7 of FRCP substantially improves this, as the developer notes below in his comment.]

When you are looking at a rule, you can also tap a button at the bottom left to e-mail the text of the rule to someone.  It is handy to e-mail a rule to yourself so that you can cut-and-paste it into a brief that you are drafting on your computer.

The layout of this app -- a list of rules, click an item to read the rule -- is similar to Constitution for iPhone, an app that I recently reviewed.  I prefer the fonts and graphical layout of Constitution for iPhone, although the design of FRCP is certainly functional.  Also, Constitution for iPhone includes notes on each article whereas FRCP does not include any commentary with the text of the rules, although that omission is largely irrelevant as you won't be using your iPhone for in-depth procedural research; you will just use it to quickly find the text of a rule.  For only $2, the app is well worth it and is a useful tool on the iPhone of any litigator.

Click this button to download FRCP from the iTunes app store for $1.99.  [UPDATE 12/29/08:  The app was updated to add more features, such as admiralty and maritime rules, and the price is now $2.99.]

Using the exact same design as FRCP, Cliff Maier developed the following apps:

• Bankruptcy gives you Title 11 of the U.S. Code. $2.99.
• FDCA gives you the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act as codified in Title 21 of the U.S. Code.  $3.99.
• FRAP gives you the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure.  $1.99.
• FRCrimPro gives you the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.  $1.99.
• FRE gives you the Federal Rules of Evidence.  $1.99.
• Lanham contains the Lanham Act, the portion of 15 U.S.C. that defines federal trademark law.  $1.99.
• Patent Rules contains the local patent rules from five federal district courts (N.D. Cal., S.D. Cal., N.D. Ga., W.D. Pa. and E.D. Tex.)  $1.99.
• Sarbanes Oxley gives you Title 15, Chapter 98 of the U.S. Code.  $1.99
• Securities gives you Sarbanes Oxley plus the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.  $4.99.
• Title 17 gives you the federal copyright code.  $1.99.
• Title 35 gives you the federal patent laws.  $1.99.

Cliff Maier also has a version of the Constitution for $0.99.  As noted above, I prefer the design of Constitution for iPhone, which also has the advantage of being free.  But Cliff Maier's version lets you search the full text, and for that feature alone you might want to pay the dollar and keep both versions on your iPhone.

Also, if you are a California lawyer, Cliff Maier has versions of the California Evidence Code ($1.99) and the local patent rules for the N.D. Cal. ($0.99) . 

Comments

[PTLaw]

I have purchased the FRCrimPro, FRCP, FRE, FRAP, Bankruptcy, and Lanham Act apps. What a great resource! I wish apps were available for the Tennessee Rules and Tennessee Code Annotated.

PTLaw

[Cliff Maier]

Hi, PTLaw. Please feel free to email suggestions directly to me at support@waffleturtle.com.

Apple has just approved release of FRBP (the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure) and I am currently working on the Minnesota UCC (the UCC is, itself, copyrighted of course).

I keep a list of all suggestions, and work my way through them prioritizing based on the number of people who request a given thing. I give the reference apps a higher priority because I can knock them out more quickly.

Thanks
-Cliff

[John Rogers]

As mentioned in the article, the Bankruptcy Code app is great and I have used several times already in court and at seminars. It has a search feature which is very helpful. The Bankruptcy Rules app will be helpful as well, I think, and it also has the search feature.
Thanks, Cliff !!

[Cliff Maier]

Version 1.7 of FRCP, which should solve the "device freezes for a couple of seconds while typing in the search box" issues mentioned in the review, has been released by Apple.

Also, FRBP has been released.

The Minnesota UCC and the Delaware General Corporations Law are being reviewed by Apple, and should be released in a day or two.

Still more coming... Enjoy!

[Joseph Dang]

I'm leaning towards an iphone big time (vs. Blackberry Bold). One thing that bothers me, especially with apps like this, are copy and paste. How do you guys handle that, and is it just a minor nuisance or a frustrating one?

[Cliff Maier]

After switching from a Treo, I do find lack of copy/paste to be a minor nuisance. Happily, I rarely find that I need to do a copy/paste, and the iPhone offers so many other useful features that I don't regret the switch for a minute. There's no other mobile platform that makes web browsing or pdf viewing as practical, and I find I use my iPhone in ways I could never use my Treo.

[Jeffrey Richardson]

As for the copy-and-paste issue, my feelings mirror those of Cliff. I used to have a Treo 650 and I did use copy-and-paste. I feel confident that Apple will add this function at some point, much like they added MS Exchange e-mail this past Summer, but I can't say it is something that I would use every day or even every week. I miss the feature about once or twice a month. So it will be great when it is added, but the other advantages of an iPhone definitely outweigh using a Treo or Backberry for this one feature.

[S. Mc]

Howdy, just wondering if you would know if a version of the TN code annotated would be available for iphone?

[Angelo Medina]

I also would like to see the Tennessee Code and traffic laws. I know quite a few other officers who would love to have such a handy reference on their iPhones.