Documents to Go is smart enough to recognize when a document you previously uploaded has changed and updates the document in your PDA with the new file. This feature is great with documents that are constantly being updated as a case evolves, such as witness lists, case outlines, and case chronologies. Documents to Go supports every popular word processing format and even handles spreadsheets.

I find it very useful to convert cases to a Palm-compatible format so that I can review them just before a hearing. The search functions found in most Palm-based readers make the Palm versions of cases far superior to the paper copies I used to carry with me into court. There are several readers available for download that are excellent for this. If your budget is limited and you're willing to do without bells and whistles, many of these readers are available in free "lite" versions. The most popular readers are AportisDoc (at http://www.aportis.com) and TealDoc (at http://www.tealpoint.com).

My favorite program for creating Palm compatible documents is a simple freeware utility called DocReader (available for download at http://www.crosswinds.net/~mpicker0/DocReader/DocReader.htm). You can simply type or cut and paste text into DocReader, and your files are saved in Palm format ready to be synchronized to your PDA.

Another situation in which the Palm computer has proven to be a formidable tool in the courthouse is when I need to do legal research on-the-fly. It has happened to all litigators at some point. During your legal argument, your opponent cites a case to the court that was mysteriously omitted from his brief. Because you're not familiar with the case, you don't know if quotes from it have been taken out of context or whether the particular case has been criticized or even reversed by other courts. The usual reaction is to frantically try to get someone back at the office to research the case, but this can rarely be accomplished in enough time to be able to successfully argue against the case in court.

With the advent of wireless solutions for the Palm device, it's now possible to conduct sophisticated real-time legal research anywhere, anytime. The two major providers of online legal research services, Westlaw and Lexis-Nexis, are in the process of expanding their product lines with wireless offerings specifically designed for Palm device users. In this respect, Westlaw is further advanced with its Westlaw Wireless service (at http://www.westlaw.com/wireless), which allows the user to obtain a synopsis and headnotes for a case and to review the full history and citations to the case in real-time.

Lexis-Nexis is not far behind and is currently testing the LEXIS-NEXIS Wireless service (at http://www.lexis-nexis.com/mvp/wireless/), which will allow users to download the complete text of a case or statute and to run the popular Shepard's case history and citation service. Lexis even promises to make its Daily Opinion Service, which is updated every two hours, available for PDAs, a move that would make wireless legal research every bit as up-to-date as that performed online from a desktop computer.