iPhone Apps for Law Students

Free Apps for the iPhone:

1. Kaplan MBE Flashcards – Covers Torts, Constitutional Law, Evidence, Criminal Law and Procedure, Contracts and Real Property; six instructional videos highlight key concepts including hearsay, equal protection and negligence
2. Legal Terms or Law Guide or Nolo  – all offer dictionaries of legal terms; Nolo’s is for non-lawyers
3. Fastcase – offers a free app to search case law and statutes (registration is required)
4. LawStack or LawBox – both offer copies of the U.S. Constitution, FRAP, FRCP, FRE, Bankruptcy Procedure, and Criminal Procedure Rules
5. LexisNexis Get Cases App – allows you to retrieve by citation and Shepardize
6. SSRN – working papers and journal articles
7. Dropbox – set up a free Dropbox account and sync your documents across several computers

Engineers, Scientists Can Qualify for the Patent Bar

If you have a scientific or technical undergraduate degree (engineering or science degree), you might qualify for the patent bar exam.  If you pass the exam you can practice patent law before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).  The regulations governing the recognition of individuals to practice before the USPTO in patent cases are set forth in 37 CFR §§ 11.5, 11.6, 11.7, 11.8 and 11.9.

The exam is computer-delivered and includes 100 multiple-choice questions.  Only ninety of the questions are scored.  A passing score is seventy percent (sixty-three) of the ninety scored questions.  Each of the scored questions has been used on previous examinations forms and had been psychometrically analyzed to ensure the question provides a useful assessment of a candidate’s legal qualifications. More information is available on the USPTO website.

Exam Tips on YouTube (PLI)