Many of us have a smart phone or hope to get one as a gift (hint).
Here are some legal research and reference applications that might interest you. Smartphones have different operating systems, so an application that works on an iPhone will not work on a BlackBerry, Android phone, Palm Pre and Windows mobile device. Since Apple’s iPhone and its App Store opened the doors to mobile legal research applications, this article only features iPhone applications.
Before We Begin: User Input Requested
If you are aware of any legal research mobile apps for BlackBerry, Android phone, Palm Pre and Windows mobile please leave a comment with the information. Also let us know about other iPhone legal research apps not listed in this article. Finally, we would like to know your user experience with these list apps or any other legal research apps — Thanks. 
Law Dictionary
West, part of Thomson Reuters, offeres through the iPhone App Store the eighth—and most recent—edition of Black’s Law Dictionary ($49.99).
A free iPhone alternative is Nolo’s Plain English Law Dictionary.
United States Constitution
The iPhone offers a free app of the text of the U.S. Constitution. WaffleTurtle Software also offers a $.99 version that allows you to search the text.
Case Law
Lexis users may be interested in the Get Cases and Shepardize® application for iPhone. Just by entering a citation, users can review this case issues, rules, and reasoning as written by LexisNexis editors. The Shepard’s Signal™ indicators and Shepard’s Summaryis also available. Users must have a a current LexisNexis subscription and valid ID/password to utilize this app.
Another case law app is Fastcase for the iPhone. This free iPhone application provides state and federal case law from all 50 states as well as a comprehensive library of statutes. You can search by citation, keyword (in Boolean or natural language), or browse our statute collections.
Federal Statutes and Rules
Shawn J. Bayern, Assistant Professor at Florida State University, College of Law has created a free iPhone app for the United States Code. This application allows users to search, browse, or use legal citations to find the sections you’re looking for. Users can keep bookmarks, scroll through each chapter of the code as if it’s a book, and email code sections to yourself or others.
Law Stack® from Tekk Innovations LLC a free legal library for your iPhone. LawStack comes preloaded with the United States Constitution, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, Federal Rules of Evidence, and Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure
WaffleTurtle Software offers a variety of searchable legal iPhone apps of the including Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ($2.99); Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure ($2.99); Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure ($2.99); Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure ($2.99); Federal Rules of Evidence ($2.99); and local patent rules from seven federal district courts whose dockets attract great numbers of intellectual property cases.
New York State Resources
Tekk Innovations LLC sales several New York legal resources iPhone apps: Laws of New York ($24.99); New York Code of Criminal Procedure (NY Law) ($5.99); New York Penal Code (NY Law) ($5.99); and New York Vehicle and Traffic Code (NY Law) ($5.99).
