KAMLOOPS, B.C. — Law students at Thompson Rivers Universityin Kamloops, B.C., have created a court registry app they say could revolutionize the legal scheduling system.
The app, called Summons, works with mobile devices to connect court registries, the public and lawyers.
The students came up with the idea for a project that would foster innovation and law in a course called Lawyer in the 21st Century.
Third-year law student Nawel Benrabah says the app, which is currently in demonstration mode, provides real-time scheduling information.
She says the students aren't seeking any profits from the app, but hope it will one day be available in every courtroom in the country.
The group presented their idea to several members of the Kamloops Bar Association, and Benrabah says the reception was favourable.
"It's really kind of neat to receive a practising lawyer's opinion that, 'Hey, this is really cool,''' she said in an interview. "We're actually aiming to pilot it in Kamloops, so it was vital for us to get that green light or stamp of approval from the local bar before moving forward with our project."
Benrabah says that when she and her fellow students began looking at the idea, they realized there was nothing like it in the legal world.
Because everyone in the group had experienced some kind of wait in court, they wanted to address the problem.
"The idea came from those red flashing buzzers that some restaurants use to call up patrons waiting for a table," Benrabah said in a news release.
However, this mobile technology will work only if the current court registry software is updated.
If all goes according to plan, the app could be working in the pilot stage in Kamloops by next year. (CHNL)
