The Minnesota bankruptcy court just announced (pdf) that it will be making digital audio files of court proceedings available to the public through PACER for $2.40 each. That’s substantially more than Bieber’s singles go for, and probably no better for dancing.
What I really wonder, however, is whether the court system is making a profit on PACER. It better be, because I can’t imagine how it could possibly justify charging $2.40 for a few megabytes of audio — not to mention $.10 per page for PDFs — if it isn’t turning a tidy profit on those downloads. Although if PACER is profitable, I hope someone who can do something about it will vote to channel some of those profits into making PACER not suck.
One of my favorite talks at the Law Via the Internet Conference turned out to be from Frank Wagner, retired U.S. Supreme Court Reporter of Decisions. His topic, Reporting the Law in Perennial Time dealt with the difficulties involved in publishing documents that need to be accurate and authentic and accessible for centuries.
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LVI 2012 is “good ideas about putting law on the Internet, from all over the world.” It brings together people from all over the world who are interested in publishing the law, both non-profits and for-profits. I’ve met several people visiting from state supreme courts (Nevada and Micronesia, for starters), a law librarian, several publishers (from Luxembourg and the HeinOnline digital archive, among others), and the folks from CALI, which many of us know from law school. And, of course, there are people from legal information institutes similar to Cornell’s original LII from all over the world.
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The Internet has revolutionized the way that we obtain information. With just the click of a button, we now have ability research just about any topic we can dream up. Of course, the trick is to be able to quickly and efficiently locate relevant data. And, that’s where the “Cybersleuth’s Guide to the Internet,” written by Carole Levitt, a lawyer and law librarian, and Mark E. Rosch, long time legal technology author and speaker, comes in.
I was recently provided with a review copy of this book and expected that, given my familiarity with online tools, much of what this book had to offer would be old news to me.
Well, let me tell you: I was wrong. In nearly every chapter I discovered at least a few new tricks, and by the time I had finished the book, I had learned a wide array of new and practical tips that I would have otherwise never known about.
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All you have to do is download the rulebook app, then you can download the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, Bankruptcy Procedure, Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure and Evidence from within the app, for free.
From a Liberum Capital report highlighted by Jason Wilson at rethinc.k:
Legal publishing margins have fallen from an estimated 25% in 2008 to 14% in 2011, and organic revenue growth has seen two years of organic revenue declines followed by anaemic growth in 2011. We do not see this recovering. It is clear that the legal publishing business will remain under considerable structural challenge[.]
See also Robert McKay’s post, The End of Legal Publishing?.
In our attempt to keep overhead low, we have used mostly free resources so far. With the exception of our practice management software and fax service, we don’t pay for any online accounts. I’ve been a strong advocate of Google Scholar this entire time. But now I’ve seen the light, and we are spending some money.
You can discuss The Shingle Life in the comments, in the LAB, or on Twitter using the hashtag #shinglelife.
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There are a few scenarios that keep litigators awake at night. One popular nightmare is the last-minute case on point. Another is being caught unprepared to hand over a critical document in court. The latter is especially terrifying to lawyers who are paperless—or looking for reasons not to go paperless.
I recently (okay, last November) tweeted that I prefer to bring an iPad to court instead of a laptop—or a luggage cart full of client files—and Scott Greenfield took issue:
I suggested that Sam might consider bringing actual client files with him to court, just in case a judge asked for a document, or maybe if his adversary raised an argument that he could destroy with a document in his possession, pulled with a flourish from his file and handed up with verve.
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What if you could review a dictionary of legal terms, research statutes of limitations, look up information about visa types, investigate crime rates and history for specific crimes, as well as state and national average comparisons, get closing cost estimates, and information on square footage, home sales price, and utility prices from one iPhone app?
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Google Scholar came online in November 2009, offering advanced legal research to everyone. Combining case law from state and federal courts around the country with Google’s unique search algorithm, Google Scholar allows anyone to conduct legal research—for free. However, attorneys used to using commercial search engines with very structured search rules may have difficulty adjusting to Google Scholar. These Google Scholar advanced legal research tips will explain some of the strengths and weaknesses of Google Scholar and how you can use it to save yourself and your clients some money.
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