Friday, April 5, 2013

Rocket Lawyer (for Android)

By Jeffrey L. Wilson

You'll never know when a lawyer's sound advice or a quickly procured legal document will come in handy. That's the premise behind Rocket Lawyer, a cost-effective service for small businesses that provides legal consultation, documents, and electronic signatures. Smartphone and tablet owners with legal needs can now tap that resource with a free mobile app available on the Android (reviewed) and iOS platforms. Rocket Lawyer for Android carries over many of its desktop counterpart's features, but unfortunately lacks numerous legal documents that users may want to access while on the go.

Rocket Lawyer for Android is completely free to use until you speak with an attorney. In fact, it offers services for free that you'd need a membership to use on the desktop (like eSign). A Rocket Lawyer membership starts at $9.99 per month if you sign up for a year annually (or $19.99 per month if you go month to month).

Legal Eagle
Rocket Lawyer's red-and-orange interface is simple, but attractive. It features four easily accessible sections?"Ask a Lawyer," "Make a Document," "Consults," and "My Stuff"?that are mirrored in the menu bar at the app's bottom. It's extremely easy to navigate.

"Ask a Lawyer" lets you query an attorney via an in-app form. You fill out the form with a question (I asked why LLCs in NYC need to submit business announcements to newspapers), name, email address, state, and the type of legal issue. Rocket Lawyer notified me that I would have a response within one business day?I received a thorough response, surprisingly, in less than five hours "Consult" has a similar setup as "Ask a Lawyer" except that it lets you request a live phone consultation with a local lawyer. This consultation is the one aspect of mobile Rocket Lawyer that isn't free; speaking to a lawyer requires a membership.

"Make a Document" has an excellent premise?it allows you to whip up legal papers from your phone or tablet?but it only lets you create Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs). That's a big step down from the nearly 30 legal documents available on the desktop side, which include lease, divorce, general business, and other papers (Rocket Lawyer states that additional documents are headed to the mobile versions). Still, I was able to whip up a NDA in a few minutes time, which someone else could eSign to create a legally binding agreement. Very cool.

"My Stuff" is where all your created documents are stored. You simple tap the icon to view or edit documents.

The Verdict
The Rocket Lawyer Android app, at the present time, is a well-designed, highly useful tool for people with legal questions or those in need of NDA forms. Obviously, there are some trade-offs. The Rocket Lawyer Android app offers services for free that would require you to open your wallet should you access them on the desktop, but it lacks over two dozen documents found on the Web site. Rocket Lawyer's mobile app has lots of potential, but the speed by which the company can supply mobile users with the MIA legal documents may determine its long-term appeal.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/4NhhNr4E08w/0,2817,2417348,00.asp

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