Apps for lawyers, sorted by the job each one does

A lawyer's iPhone carries a word processor, a PDF editor, a signature service, the practice-management app, a research app, two file services and a timer, and the useful question is not which is best but what each one is for, and what a year of it costs. Below: the apps other lists name most often, grouped by job, each in its maker's own words with the price its maker publishes, plus the one job none of them is built for.

Most lawyers already have the apps. Fewer can say what each is for, what the year's bill comes to, or where two overlap. This page sorts that out, job by job. It covers apps, not AI: research platforms, general assistants and the bar guidance are in our guide to AI for lawyers.

Who is writing: Equerry, whose own app sits in the last group, the client record, marked as ours. Equerry is not a legal research or drafting tool, and nothing on this page is legal advice. No maker paid to be here, there are no affiliate links, and a subscription to anything listed earns us nothing.

How the list was assembled

The jobs are the ones that recur across published lists of lawyer apps, from law-library guides to firm blogs; the apps under each are the names those lists repeat. Three rules:

• The maker describes the app. Every description is quoted or closely paraphrased from the maker's site or App Store listing, read 12 October 2026. Nothing was tested or scored; within a job the order is alphabetical.
• Prices are the maker's published US-dollar prices, with the billing period, because "$11 a month" can mean a $132 commitment. Where a page priced in another currency or published nothing, the entry or the sources note says so. Prices change and may exclude tax.
• Platforms are as the maker lists them. Several practice-management and research apps run on iPhone and iPad only, with a browser on the Mac.

Every app on one screen

Documents and PDFs

Five apps carry most of a lawyer's document work on Apple devices: one for writing, two for editing PDFs, two for marking them up by hand on an iPad.

• Adobe Acrobat. Adobe: "Edit, sign, and understand documents faster with conversational AI." The desktop app runs on the Mac; the free Acrobat Reader app views, annotates and signs on iPhone and iPad. Price: Acrobat Standard is US$14.99 a month on an annual plan billed monthly, Acrobat Pro US$19.99 on the same basis.
• Goodnotes. "The ultimate note-taking experience for professionals who rely on a tablet," on iPad, iPhone and Mac. Price: a Free plan, Essential at $11.99 a year, Pro at $35.99 a year.
• Microsoft Word. Microsoft's Word page promises "powerful collaboration and editing tools, wherever you are." iPhone, iPad and Mac, with a Microsoft 365 subscription. Price: Microsoft 365 Personal is $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year.
• Notability. Its pricing page: "Import and annotate documents, record lectures while taking notes, and create custom templates." iPhone, iPad and Mac. Price: Starter is free; Notability Plus is $19.99 a year.
• PDF Expert. Readdle: "We make it easy to edit, annotate, sign and organize PDFs," on one account across iPhone, iPad and Mac. Price: Premium is $79.99 a year on its US page; a lifetime licence at $139.99 is "Mac version only."

E-signature

• Docusign. Its Personal plan is "For individuals and sole proprietors with basic e-signature needs"; the app runs on iPhone and iPad. Price: Personal is $11 a month, which the page calls "an annual commitment of $132," for 5 envelopes a month; the page quotes the "Annual | Billed monthly" price.
• Dropbox Sign. "Dropbox Sign is the simple and secure way to sign agreements online." It is used in a browser. Price: Essentials is $15 a month, "$180 USD billed yearly."

Practice management

These four are other makers' systems for matters, time, billing and documents. Equerry does not connect to any of them. Each has an iPhone and iPad app; in two cases the app depends on the plan.

• Clio. Clio's pricing page: "Clio is legal AI that knows your matters, your clients, and the law." The phone app comes with every plan and has a timer, "to track more billable and non-billable time by doing it on the spot." Price: "Clio's plans start at $49 USD per user per month," across Starter, Core, Signature and Elite; only Starter carries a figure, the rest say "Get pricing."
• MyCase. Now branded "8am MyCase," it "keeps cases, clients, documents, and billing together." Price: Basic is $50 per user a month paid yearly or $60 monthly. Its support centre says the mobile app "is included with the Pro and Advanced tiers," so Basic is browser-only.
• PracticePanther. "PracticePanther is the leading legal practice management software," with an "iPhone, iPad & Android App" for tracking time and billing. Price: Solo is $49 per user a month billed annually or $59 monthly.
• Smokeball. Its home page leads with "Less admin. More time for the people who need you most." Price: not published; four plans (Bill, Boost, Grow and Prosper+) each end in "Get pricing." Its pricing table shows the mobile app on Boost, Grow and Prosper+, not on Bill.

Legal research on the phone

Research services are licensed by the firm, often through a bar association; the apps below are how they reach the phone. AI research and drafting platforms are a different category, listed with prices in our map of legal AI; for the general assistants see ChatGPT for lawyers, Claude for lawyers and Copilot for lawyers, and Anthropic's legal product has its own page, Claude for Legal.

• Lexis+. LexisNexis: "Lexis+® is an advanced legal research platform that seamlessly combines comprehensive legal content with innovative technology to empower legal professionals." Lexis+ Mobile runs on iPhone and iPad. Price: quoted on request; LexisNexis's online store for firms of up to three attorneys prices its packages by jurisdiction and term.
• vLex and Fastcase. Both belong to Clio ("Fastcase is now part of Clio"). The Fastcase Library is "available exclusively through bar association partnerships". The current app, Vincent by Clio, is marked "Only for iPhones." Price: not published; ask your bar first.
• Westlaw. Thomson Reuters: "Westlaw is the most trusted and award-winning legal research service," and its help pages say "Download the Westlaw app for iOS." Price: the Westlaw Advantage FAQ says pricing "starts at $256.75 per month for single-circuit coverage."

Files

Most firms end up with two: the one the office standardised on and the one built into the phone. All four have iPhone and iPad apps and a Mac client.

• Dropbox. "Store and share files. Sign and send documents. All with Dropbox." Price: Basic is free with 2 GB; Plus, "For 1 person," is $9.99 a month billed yearly or $11.99 billed monthly, with 2 TB.
• Google Drive. "Google Drive lets you securely store, intelligently organize and collaborate on files and folders from anywhere, on any device." Drive for desktop runs on macOS. Price: "All Google accounts come with up to 15 GB of storage"; 100 GB is $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year.
• iCloud+. "iCloud+ is Apple's premium cloud subscription"; its files sit in the Files app and in Finder. Price: 5 GB free with an Apple Account; then, billed monthly, $0.99 for 50 GB, $2.99 for 200 GB, $9.99 for 2 TB.
• OneDrive. "OneDrive: Save, access, edit, and share files and photos wherever you are." Price: 5 GB free; Microsoft 365 Basic is $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year for 100 GB.

Calendar and scheduling

• Calendly. Its site introduces "the new Calendly, built to handle all of the work around meetings." The app is "Only for iPhone." Price: a Free plan, "Always free"; Standard is $10 per seat a month billed yearly or $12 monthly.
• Fantastical. Flexibits: "Unify all of your calendars – work and personal – into a single, beautifully organized view," on Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. Price: "free to use"; Flexibits Premium for one person is $6.99 a month or $56.99 a year on the US App Store.
• Outlook. Microsoft: "Stay on top of multiple accounts with email, calendars, and contacts in one place." Price: "available free on Outlook for iOS," and the Mac app is "free for personal use."

Time tracking

Your practice-management system almost certainly has a timer already; these two are for time tracked outside it, or on the Mac.

• Timing. "Timing is a native Mac time tracker": it logs which apps, documents and websites you used and lets you assign the time afterwards. Mac only, sold directly rather than through the Mac App Store. Price: Professional is $11 a month, or $9 a month billed annually; the page prices by where you are, and from Europe it showed us €10 and €8.
• Toggl Track. "The time tracker millions trust," on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. Price: a Free plan "for a limited number of users"; Starter is $9 per user a month billed annually or $12 billed monthly.

Passwords

• 1Password. "Password manager for individuals and families," with apps for Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. Price: Individual is $3.99 a month billed yearly.

Notes and dictation

From the apps that come with the phone to a paid transcription service. Where a maker records calls or meetings, we say so in its own words; Equerry, below, does neither.

• Apple Notes. Apple Support: "You can use the Notes app to scan documents and add signatures on your iPhone or iPad," and, in the current iPhone User Guide, "In the Notes app, you can record audio and have the spoken words transcribed to text" (iPhone 12 and later). Price: none; it comes with the iPhone, iPad and Mac.
• Evernote. "Remember everything and tackle any project with your notes, tasks, and schedule all in one place." iPhone, iPad and Mac. Price: Free allows 50 notes on one device. Its help-centre table lists Starter at $14.99 a month or $99 a year in US dollars (the plans page shows local currency).
• Otter. "Otter transcribes every meeting, turning it into searchable knowledge." It is a recorder, by its maker's description: "Send it to meetings, or record them from your device." iPhone, iPad and Mac. Price: Basic is free with "300 monthly transcription minutes"; Pro is $16.99 per user a month billed monthly, or $8.33 on the annual plan.
• Voice Memos. Apple's iPhone User Guide: "Speech in your audio recordings can be transcribed to text in Voice Memos," on iPhone 12 or later, and the transcript menu includes "Copy Transcript." Price: none. That command is also the route from an existing recording into Equerry, below: copy the transcript, paste it into a note. Equerry takes no audio files from other apps.

The client record: what each client said

Every app above holds a thing: a document, a signature, a matter, an authority, a file, an appointment, six minutes, a password, a note. None of them holds the conversation. "She'll accept the lower figure if closing moves to March." "He wants the indemnity capped, and said so twice." That record lives in the lawyer's head, which is why the first ten minutes of a client call so often go on reconstructing the last one.

Equerry (this is our app) is a personal assistant for iPhone and iPad that keeps that record and briefs you from it. It connects to nothing: you hand it things, the way you would hand them to an assistant, and ask it questions later.

Equerry has an email address of its own, ending in @mail.getequerry.app. Put it on the CC line of a live thread and every later reply arrives on its own for as long as the address stays there; the original stays in your mailbox, and it never asks for your inbox. Price: Pro is $39.99 a month or $329 a year.

What Equerry is not: a practice-management system or a connection to one (it does not talk to Clio, MyCase, Outlook or a document system), a recorder or transcriber of calls, a way to text or call clients, a research or drafting tool, or a source of advice. It holds only what you have sent it, plus your calendar if you allow that; an email you never forwarded is not in it. Two cautions before client material goes in. Everyone on a CC'd thread can see the address, so forward where that matters. And what you send, with the calendar snapshot if you allow it, is processed by the outside providers listed on our AI disclosure page so that it can be searched and answered from. Equerry claims nothing about privilege or any bar rule; whether client material goes into any app here, ours included, is for your firm's policy, your jurisdiction's guidance and, where it applies, your client's informed consent.

Setting up the iPhone, the iPad and the Mac

Start with what the firm or your bar already pays for: the practice-management system and its phone app, the research service, the file service and, usually, Microsoft 365. Then buy only for the jobs still open: a PDF editor if the system's document tools are thin, an e-signature plan if nothing you pay for signs, a time tracker if you bill outside the system, a handwriting app for the iPad, the desktop file client for the Mac. That leaves the client record, which is rarely bought on purpose and usually noticed the first time a client says "as I told you on the phone" about a call that was never written up. The habit itself, with or without an app, is in our guide to keeping a record of client calls.

Sources, all read 2026-10-12. Dollar prices are from each maker's US page; where a page showed us another currency (Evernote, PDF Expert, Dropbox, Google One), the US-dollar figures come from the maker's own US render, help-centre price table or App Store listing, as noted; Fantastical's dollar figures are from its App Store listing; Timing's pricing page prices by viewer location: the US render shows $11 and $9, the European render €10 and €8. Adobe, Acrobat and plans and pricing. Goodnotes, home page and pricing. Microsoft, Word, compare Microsoft 365 plans, OneDrive plans and Outlook. Notability, pricing. Readdle, PDF Expert and pricing. Docusign, eSignature plans and pricing and mobile app. Dropbox Sign, product page and pricing. Clio, pricing, mobile app and security. MyCase, home page, pricing and mobile app support article. PracticePanther, pricing. Smokeball, pricing and mobile app support article. LexisNexis, Lexis+, online store for law firms and mobile app support article. vLex, Fastcase Library; Fastcase, home page; Apple App Store, Vincent by Clio. Thomson Reuters, Westlaw, Westlaw Advantage plans and pricing and Download the Westlaw app. Dropbox, plans and security. Google, Google One plans, Drive for desktop and the Google Drive App Store listing. Apple, iCloud+ plans and pricing, iCloud, How to scan documents on your iPhone or iPad, Record and transcribe audio in Notes on iPhone and View a Voice Memos transcription on iPhone. Calendly, pricing. Flexibits, Fantastical and pricing; Apple App Store, Fantastical Calendar. Timing, home page and pricing. Toggl, Toggl Track and pricing. 1Password, personal and personal pricing. Evernote, home page, compare plans and help-centre article on the Starter and Advanced plans. Otter, home page and pricing. Makers change their products and prices often; where a maker's current page disagrees with this one, the maker's page is right. This page is general information, not legal advice.

Last updated 2026-10-12.

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