legal research

Another review of Google's Case Law Search

As announced last year, Google Scholar searches now include legal opinions from U.S. federal and state district, appellate, and supreme courts. An earlier review said that it would not replace commerical case law providers but that it does offer is an amazing place to start case research. A new review echoes those findings:

...Google Scholar will not replace commercial legal publishers such as LexisNexis® or Westlaw® any time soon. The value in paid services lies mostly in the editorial work they provide on top of caselaw -- e.g., headnotes and cite checking features...

Something else to keep in mind -- Google Scholar is limited to case law, and does not include statutes or regulations...

All together, many lawyers have concluded that Google Scholar is a great place to conduct preliminary research, or to review new cases that have not yet been affected by precedent.

Review: Case Law on Google Scholar

Google announced recently that Google Scholar searches would now include legal opinions from U.S. federal and state district, appellate, and supreme courts. There is an early review of this service at LLRX:

Is Google Scholar a replacement for the more expensive case law providers on the market? DiGilio says not really, but that it does offer is an amazing place to start case research.

Fastcase Public Library of Law Opens its Doors

The Fastcase Public Library of Law was launched yesterday as "the most comprehensive free resource for legal research online." PLoL claims that it is the largest free law library in the world.  A cursory examination shows an easy to use interface with links to caselaw, statutes, and regulations.  You can look at federal law or choose your state from a dropdown menu.  We'll all have to spend some time trying it out to see if it's a resource we can enthusiastically recommend. 
There are also links to content you have to pay for - legal forms, for example, is one of the main tabs but you have to buy the forms after viewing them.  I'm not crazy about that - But most of the links are free.  Fastcase is a commercial legal research company that specializes in caselaw databases.  Offering free, well-organized legal information is probably a smart business decision too if it builds the name and reputation of your company.  

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