Taking an already great service and making it better: that is what today’s top information providers should be all about. JD Supra, the online, legal document sharing site where lawyers and law firms can “give content and get noticed,” is taking their show on the road with a brand new, shiny iPhone application. Called Legal Edge, the application allows you to access JD Supra’s topical categories and the sublists of documents organized within those categories. Drill down a bit further and you can view PDF or web-based versions of the documents. Documents submitted by premium accounts will also bear a “Contact Contributor” button, allowing a user to immediately reach out to the document’s author or law firm.

There is a growing number of law-related applications in the App store, but what makes JD Supra special is its status as a collective work of the legal community – the product of its contributors. This is great for those searching legal authority: Legal Edge directly connects users to some of the best minds in the profession – complete with a showcase of their talents  – right on their iPhones, where more and more people are spending more and more of their time. It is also great for contributing practitioners: with a single upload, a lawyer’s content will be featured on the JD Supra Web site and related Twitter and Facebook feeds, RSS feeds, email and now the iPhone via Leading Edge. Now THAT’s what I call publication!

Oh, and guess what? It’s free.

It gets even better. JD Supra is working with firms to develop custom, firm-branded applications to exclusively stream that firm’s content. Firms can leverage JDSupra’s expertise and create their own iPhone app, a strategy representing  one of the hottest trends in tech-based marketing.

My experience with the app is that it is simple, easy to navigate and efficient: with two clicks, I can view an expert’s thoughts on bankruptcy, insurance, real estate, intellectual property and even legal marketing. One more click and I am in contact with the author. There are twenty categories at present, but I anticipate that JD Supra will keep developing the content and finessing the application and maybe even adding features at some point down the road.

You can get Legal Edge for free from the App Store right now. If you take it out for a test drive, please come on back and provide feedback in the comments! Would love to hear your thoughts.