Law Times

Law Times • June 8, 2015 Page 9 www.lawtimesnews.com Lawyers jumping on app bandwagon Services range from severance calculator to court replacements BY MICHAEL McKIERNAN For Law Times am Sasso says he's living proof you don't have to be a computer whiz to develop a mobile appli- cation. The commercial litigator at Toronto's Ricketts Harris LLP came up with the idea for an iPad application to go alongside a legal textbook he's working on, but the only problem was he had no idea how to build one. So he began his investigation the same way many people would. "I just Googled how to build an iPad app," says Sasso. But while most people would stop there, Sasso persevered. With the help of his online re- search, he got a demo built for the book and acquired a taste for developing applications. "It's not that hard," says Sasso. "There are tons of materials out there to help you get started. I had never done any coding or taken any computer courses. There are answers to be found to every possible question you can come up with. I was wholly ignorant when I started out. Now I'm probably only quite ig- norant." Sasso's latest effort, created with Ricketts Harris manag- ing partner Gary Luftspring, is a free application designed to walk users through the basics of a directors and officers insur- ance policy using an annotated Side A insuring agreement. "Gary and I saw a real dis- connect in how people interpret D&O policies, so we wanted to create a teaching tool that helps them understand how impor- tant the definitions are in a poli- cy," says Sasso. "We hope this is a more natu- ral, intuitive way of interpreting a policy than on paper." In addition to lawyers and law students, the application targets insurance profession- als. In development, Sasso and Luftspring canvassed the views of a number of insurers that are already making use of the ap- plication in training sessions with employees and brokers. And with the barriers to entry so low in the market for applica- tions, he says any lawyer can and should give it a try. "There's such a wide range of things they can do. An app is a tool for problem solving, wheth- er it's a supply and demand issue or a principle you want to teach, which is what we have done," says Sasso. "You can also get very spe- cific. What's more obscure than an app based on a Side A insur- ing agreement? Yet insurers love it because it's something they work with on a daily basis. If something interests you, there's a good chance it interests others, too." Lior Samfiru, a partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP in To- ronto, enlisted some profes- sional help from a software de- velopment company to bring his idea for a severance calculator application to fruition and says he's "surprised more lawyers" haven't ventured into the area. "Apps and technology in gen- eral are a great way of delivering helpful, targeted information to clients," he says. "In the current age, online is the first place people go for in- formation, so why not make it your information they see?" Peter Carayiannis, the co- founder of the StandIn Law ap- plication for lawyers who need a short-notice replacement in court, says he's not so surprised. "It would be unfair to say there is no technology in the practice of law, but I think it is fair to say that lawyers and legal profes- sionals have not truly leveraged the benefits of all the technology available to them. As a cohort, we are not early adopters," says Ca- rayiannis, who's also president of Conduit Law PC. StandIn Law is operating as a separate business from the law firm. "The entire process of actu- ally designing and building out the app has been really gratify- ing and I would tell any lawyer who is at all inclined towards this to find a way to do it," says Carayiannis. With almost two years since the launch of his severance cal- culator, Samfiru qualifies as one of the early adopters for legal applications and says he's now reaping the rewards of his ef- forts. The application aims to give employees a quick and rough idea of their severance entitle- ment based on their answers to a number of questions about their age, position, and term of employment. It can't account for every situation but provides the law firm's contact details if a user wants a full assessment. Employers can also use it to discover what they might owe a laid-off employee. Together with its associated web site, the application has racked up more than 100,000 uses so far. "If someone has a severance letter in their hand and wants to know if the offer is adequate, they're going to Google it and try to figure out if it sounds fine," says Samfiru. "They're probably going to avoid speaking to a lawyer un- less they absolutely have to. You may not have lost your job but you could be worried about it and come across the app. We speak with people daily from all walks of life: senior execu- tives to entry-level workers. The response has been tremendous." Samfiru says the severance application has also been an excellent business-generation tool by bringing in numerous new clients, including some he believes may never have ap- proached a lawyer without the application. "It's there for useful, timely in- formation, but I'm not ashamed to say there's also a marketing component to it, which has been very effective," he says. The firm is now working on the injury calculator, a similar service designed to give poten- tial personal injury claimants a quick and easy way to discover how much compensation they could obtain in court based on a survey of cases across Canada. Carayiannis' journey in the legal application world started just over a year ago while act- ing as a mentor to students in the ReInvent Law Laboratory at the Michigan State Univer- sity. Andrew Johnston, one of the students in the program, came to him with the idea of a service that would formalize the makeshift system of favours and goodwill that kicks in when lawyers find themselves double- booked or unexpectedly un- available for a procedural court appearance. "The status quo is best de- scribed as an informal ad hoc network of friends trading fa- vours held together by text mes- sages and sticky notes," says Ca- rayiannis. Together, the pair co-found- ed StandIn Law, a location- based application that matches double-booked lawyers with nearby available counsel who set their rate but typically charge between $50 and $100. The application processes pay- ments immediately with a $7.50 transaction fee for every suc- cessful match. Both sides of the match must then give each other a rating used to create an aver- age score that other users can view via the application. "A lot of friction in the pro- cess comes over payment. They're brief appearances for relatively small amounts, but to get paid, you have to go back to the office, generate an invoice, and then wait for payment, which is a disincentive to do them," says Carayiannis. "Now, instead of waiting 90 days to get paid, you're going to wait 90 minutes." Beta testing recently wrapped up at the test sites — criminal courts in Detroit and the Great- er Toronto Area — and Carayi- annis says it has been particu- larly popular with paralegals. The service will branch out to New York, Chicago, Los An- geles, and San Francisco start- ing July 4 with further rollouts planned for Canadian and American cities. LT FOCUS TF: 1.888.223.0448 T: 416.868.3100 (YHU\WLPH\RXUHIHUDFOLHQWWRRXUßUP\RXDUHSXWWLQJ \RXUUHSXWDWLRQRQWKHOLQH,WLVDOODERXWWUXVWZHOOSODFHG Since 1936 Thomson, Rogers has built a strong, trusting, and collegial relationship with hundreds of lawyers across the province. As a law firm specializing in civil litigation, we have a record of accomplishment second to none. With a group of 30 litigators and a support staff of over 100 people, we have the resources to achieve the best possible result for your client. Moreover, we are exceptionally fair when it comes to referral fees. We welcome the chance to speak or meet with you about any potential referral. We look forward to creating a solid relationship with you that will benefit the clients we serve. www.thomsonrogers.com TRUST DAVID PAYNE | ADAM TANEL | MICHAEL BENNETT <285$'9$17$*( in and out of the courtroom. Untitled-1 1 2015-06-01 12:08 PM S 'As a cohort, we are not early adopters,' says Peter Carayiannis.

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