Paul Brennan, who has drawn legal cartoons for the likes of The Australian Financial Review’s legal affairs section, has designed and launched his own application for the legal profession.

As lawyers become increasingly aware of the potential uses of Apple’s devises for their work, using the iPhone and iPad in court and client meetings, it’s predictable that those trying to get under those lawyers’ radars will do it via those devises.

Brennan, whose cartoons of robed judges, lawyers and legal professionals have kept the industry amused for years, says his is the world’s first legal cartoon “app”.

The application is a means to make the cartoons more accessible to lawyers. He argued anything, “potentially, even a legal presentation”, could be turned into an app.

An application is a small button display for electronic devises such as the iPhone and iPad, giving direct access to a game, for example, a website, or a string of cartoons. They are updated externally, and change as the user requests and accepts those changes.

Brennan said he set out to create the legal cartoon app through the free site www.elance.com, which allows the user to call for tenders, put money into escrow and only release it when they are satisfied with the application designer’s service.

“Within 24 hours I had five tenders mostly from India which enabled me to assess the going rate and select a tender from a provider who had excellent feedback from previous customers,” he said.

He said, however, that the process of designing the app was “difficult and time consuming”.

Within two weeks, he had uploaded the pages and viewed two video clips of the app that had been designed. Four weeks later, the app was born, he said.

“Just as I was feeling that we would never get it right [the designer] sent me the app itself. Getting it working was difficult for me. It came in two files that had to be dragged and dropped into iTunes on my computer.

“There was talk of the application binary, source code, mobile provisioning certificate, provisioning profile. An iPhone configuration utility box came up on my screen.

“I struggled and we met by video link on Skype, it was easy to operate this link. He was in Bangalore and I on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. He resent files, he talked me through the installation process and the Legal Cartoon App appeared on my iPhone,” he said.

The designer was a “professional, serious minded young man dedicated to getting the job done quickly”. He said that as a lawyer, especially in litigation, “I don’t always get to work with people like this”.

Brennan purchased an Apple developers’ certificate for $US99. “I am not only a Solicitor, Attorney and Proctor of the Supreme Court, but also a newly appointed Apple Developer. Regrettably there does not appear to be an Apple Developer’s tie or any enthusiasm on my part to get technical,” he said.

The review process of the application took one week and is now available for download, Brennan said.