E-discovery provider Daegis Inc. now has mobile applications for the Apple iPad and Google Android devices. Officials said the application delivers nearly all of the features of the desktop version, which is rare, as mobile applications in the legal technology field often have limited features.
Vice president of product marketing Anita Engles observed that while few users will do full-fledged document review on a mobile device, it's helpful to have that option. "All of the functionality works … we haven't put any restrictions on what people will do via the app," she said. "There might be a small review batch that needs an expert opinion, or they might need a senior attorney to take a look at it really quickly."
The application is available immediately. It's free and requires users to install the Citrix Systems Inc. Receiver application, which is also free and serves as middleware. Xerox Litigation Services announced the same approach last month for its OmniX e-discovery suite.
Daegis chose Citrix support, along with a dashboard written in HTML5, because it was the fastest way to market, said Doug Stewart, vice president of technology. "We started working on the mobile piece, designing new content for it, when we started working on our Acumen product," he said, referring to the San Francisco company's predictive coding software released in October.
Mobile applications are becoming de rigueur in the legal technology industry. Other legal technology companies, such as Aderant Holdings Inc., rely on HTML5 for its mobile technology and focus app development on specific features such as workflow. Thomson Reuters Corp. in June acquired an entire mobile development company to accelerate its mobile initiatives.
"It's definitely a big first step for us into this arena. Obviously it won't be the last move we will make," Stewart added. Additional tools are forthcoming which will add management features, he said.
Stewart agreed with Engles that most customers in the legal field are using laptops or iPads. Few are seen using Android devices other than the occasional Samsung Galaxy smartphone, but with the Citrix approach there's no technical reason not to support the increasingly large screens of Android products, they both noted.
Evan Koblentz is a reporter for
, a Legal affiliate based in New York.
