When arguing a case, attorneys rely on statutes, rules and seminal case law, typically lugging around heavy, annually-published law desk books to use as courtroom resources.

In late 2010, Paull teamed up with family friend and recent University of Texas business school graduate Alex Torry to develop PUSH:legal, an up-to-date mobile desk book for lawyers.

"Good attorneys are always thinking about their clients cases," Torry, chief operating officer of PUSH:legal, says. And creativity often sparks when least expected — on the golf course, at a lunch meeting, as one dozes off to sleep.

PUSH:legal has been described as "instant research," a mobile law library available on leading smart phones and tablets and desktop computers. Torry explained that the mobile program is intuitive, icon-driven and fully text-searchable. Plus, new precedents push to the application automatically, so the data is always up-to-date.

Big publishers in the desk book industry are concerned about the app's accessibility and affordability. One even went as far as to file a complaint against the fledgling startup for copyright infringement. Represented by law prodigy Kiwi Camara (who has now teamed up with the company), PUSH:legal recently defeated that case in court.

Thus far, PUSH:legal desk books are available for federal statutes and state statutes in Texas, California, Florida and New York. The company is in the process of raising funds and developing an algorithm to automate expansion to all 50 states — something that several legal publishers have called the "Holy Grail" of the industry.

During just 15 months in operation, the app has seen more than 25,000 downloads, and has more than 800 subscribers. Subscriptions cost $29.95 per month or $299 annually — significantly less, Torry says, than some other mobile apps, but with significantly more readily-available information.