Law Libraries

Google Offers Legal Research for the Average Citizen—and Lawyers, Too

Updated: Google has announced it is adding a new search function that will find full-text legal opinions from federal and state courts. Users can go to the Google Scholar online search engine and type in case names, topics or key words to find the relevant cases. “We think this addition…

Nov 18, 2009 4:11 PM CST

Law.Gov Proposes Open-Source Stash of All Primary US Legal Materials

An ambitious project to create an open-source authenticated repository of all primary legal materials in the United States is being proposed by Law.Gov. Detailed by Law.Gov, the project is presently in a planning stage. A growing group of individuals and organizations including a number of well-known law schools and law…

Oct 15, 2009 7:24 PM CDT

Bloomberg Is Launching a New Legal Search Engine

After at least two years of development, Bloomberg is getting ready to launch a new legal search engine that could give industry leaders Westlaw and LexisNexis a run for their money, according to JD Journal. As a Bloomberg Law web page explains, the the new venture is a “legal, regulatory,…

Oct 7, 2009 12:04 AM CDT

Your Law Librarian Is Watching: ‘Hot Stuff’ Tracking Software Can Cut Costs

An increasing number of law firms are cutting their law library budgets, spurring some librarians to buy new usage tracking software to make decisions about resources. Forty-six percent of law librarians surveyed reported that their budgets had been cut, a substantial increase from 9 percent who reported lower budgets last…

Sep 2, 2009 12:56 PM CDT

Tired of Paying for PACER Docs? Princeton Group Offers Alternative

Many federal courts make their case documents readily available online—for a price. And even though it’s only 8 cents a page, that can quickly add up for frequent users. As some users unhappy about the cost of the PACER (short for Public Access to Court Electronic Records) system lobby for…

Aug 14, 2009 6:34 PM CDT

Brick, Mortar, and High-Tech

In an age where law students are more familiar with digital books than bound ones, Pennsylvania State University’s Dickinson School of Law is spending up to $140 million on two new buildings, including a new law library that is a masterpiece of modern architecture.

Aug 2, 2009 2:50 AM CDT

Finding Accurate Law Text Online Nearly Impossible, Panelists Say #ABAChicago

It sounded easy. Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s counsel, Denley Chew, slapped down some $2 bills and challenged a room of lawyers and legal researchers with laptops and iPhones to find the authoritative text of the landmark Fugitive Slave Act online. “Authoritative” was the catch. The money remained untouched.…

Jul 31, 2009 6:38 PM CDT

Users Ask Federal Courts to Improve PACER Document Access System

Led by a librarian from Stanford Law School, users are petitioning the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts in an effort to seek improvements in the PACER court document access system. Among the improvements being sought are reductions in the present 8-cent-per-page cost of viewing documents, free access at depository…

Jun 23, 2009 10:27 PM CDT

Library of Congress to Archive All Sotomayor Confirmation Tweets

The Library of Congress intends to compile all tweets about U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor during the confirmation process. The LOC announcement was made—where else?—in a tweet today on Twitter, reports the Hill’s Twitter Room. As the character limit on the social networking microblog requires, the LOC’s Twitter statement…

Jun 18, 2009 10:01 PM CDT

CasemakerX: New Social Network for Law Students

A new social network for law students has been announced by Lawriter, a subsidiary of Collexis Holdings Inc. The free CasemakerX site will be launched this fall, as the new law school year is beginning, the company reports in a Business Wire press release. It is supported by the Casemaker…

Aug 6, 2008 3:36 PM CDT

Advocacy Groups Among Contributors to New Legal Docs Database

About 200 lawyers and legal organizations have contributed legal documents to a website that launched at the end of February. Contributors to the site, JDSupra.com, include the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Cato Institute, the New York Times reports. The site allows lawyers to share pleadings, research memoranda and other…

Apr 28, 2008 4:52 PM CDT

Law Firms Downsize Libraries, But Still Need Them

With the advent of Internet legal research, law firms have downsized their law libraries. But they still need them for some purposes. Among them: providing a repository for materials that still can’t be accessed online, as well as a peaceful haven for lawyers seeking to focus on a research project,…

Mar 7, 2008 5:43 PM CST

New Public Website for Lawyers: ‘Give Content. Get Noticed.’

Two years ago, as attorney Aviva Cuyler was working late, night after night, drafting and responding to motions in a demanding case, she had a brain flash. “This is crazy,” the San Francisco litigator thought to herself. “I know other people have addressed these issues.” Today a new public website…

Feb 26, 2008 3:17 PM CST

Reed Elsevier to Buy ChoicePoint for $4.1B

Legal publisher Reed Elsevier has announced an agreement to buy database company ChoicePoint Inc. for $4.1 billion in cash. Reed Elsevier owns the LexisNexis legal database service. The combined company will be able to offer better risk management and analytical products in sectors including law, insurance, finance, screening, law enforcement,…

Feb 21, 2008 6:22 PM CST

Thomson Gets Antitrust Approval for Reuters Purchase

The U.S. Justice Department and antitrust regulators in Europe have approved legal publisher Thomson Corp.’s $17 billion acquisition of Reuters, provided that the company sells certain financial databases. The combination will create the world’s leading financial information company, eclipsing competitor Bloomberg, The Deal reports. The U.S. Justice Department said in…

Feb 21, 2008 3:07 PM CST