A while back, the good folks at TrialPad were kind enough to give me complimentary access to their iPad trial presentation app. I tried it out a few times, but it wasn’t until I sat through a demo with the developer at LegalTech in Manhattan last week that I truly realized how useful this app will be for litigators.

Using TrialPad, you can simply and easily control the presentation of evidence to a jury. You can highlight and annotate documents in real time, drawing the jurors attention to important aspects of the document. You can quickly locate, access and manipulate documents on the fly using just your iPad. No need to fumble through stacks of documents; with the touch of a finger, your document is right there, ready to display on screen.

TrialPad recently integrated with DropBox, making file transfers a much quicker, streamlined process. One common complaint about the iPad, since it has no USB port, is the inherent difficulty in getting files onto the iPad. The DropBox greatly simplifies that process since you can create folders on DropBox that contain large number of individual files, and then simply transfer entire folders into TrialPad rather than having to transfer files individually, which can be a painstakingly arduous process if your case involves large numbers of documents and exhibits.

The TrialPad interface is intuitive and easy to use, making trial preparation and presentation more effective. It mimics the costly trial presentation productions of year’s past, but at a much more affordable price—just $89.99. It’s priced higher than your typical iPad app, but is far less expensive than many alternatives.

Above you’ll find the demonstrative video from their website, which gives you a glimpse at the interface. All in all, this looks like a really interesting, affordable tool for llitigators—and it’s the first of its kind. I expect that other similar apps will follow.

And, mark my words, within the next 2 years, trial presentation software such as TrialPad on tablet computers will be the norm in the courtroom.