Robert Ambrogi Blog
I recently reported here about the ABA Journal’s Hackcess to Justice, the first-ever hackathon held during an ABA annual meeting. First prize went to William Palin, a Massachusetts lawyer. Over the course of the two-day event, he created PaperHealth, an iOS app that provides a quick and easy way to create a legally binding health care proxy or a non-binding living will on an iPhone or iPad.
As it turns out, Palin had previously created another legal app, PaperWork. Developed for use by family law attorneys in Massachusetts, PaperWork allows users to create PDF family law forms for use in Massachusetts. It includes forms for divorce and separate support, modifications, child support, paternity, change of name, financial reporting, and several others.
Choose a form and the app prompts you for the information needed to complete it. You can save your name, address and bar ID number so that information is filled in automatically on every form. The app also allows users to sign documents directly on an iPhone or iPad, using a finger or a stylus.
Documents created using the app are saved to your device and can be subsequently edited or changed. You can email the finished document or print it directly from your device if you have an AirPrint-compatible printer. Draft documents can be shared with others for their input, but they will also need this app to open and edit a document.
If you have the app on multiple iOS devices, you can keep them all in sync via Apple iCloud. This way, for example, you could create a form on your iPad and then further edit it on your iPhone.
The app also includes a child support calculator and alimony calculator for Massachusetts.
Palin’s PaperWork app can be downloaded for free from the iTunes store. He expects that his PaperHealth app will soon also be available in the iTunes Store.