online legal research: tools, tips and tricks

Online Legal Research:

Tools, Tips + Tricks*Jared D. Correia, Esq.

Assistant Director/Senior Law Practice Advisor

Massachusetts Law Office Management Assistance Program

The Missouri Bar2014 Solo & Small Firm Conference#MOSOLO14June 11-14, 2014Branson Convention Center

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Give us the TOOLS, and we will do the job.

Tom Menino, former Mayor of Boston

The Big Boys

Westlaw

Lexis

Alternative Subscription Services Bloomberg Law

Lois Law

Versus Law

Fastcase/Casemaker

HeinOnline

What ARE You Paying For?

Databases

Features

Interface

What AREN’T You Paying For? Paid Services (Patron access)

FastCase (Missouri Bar access)

Google Scholar

Public Library of Law

WashLaw Web

Legal Information Institute (Cornell)

Federal Resources Regulations

eCFR

FDSys

Regulations.gov

Congress

Congress.gov (formerly ‘Thomas’)

Federal Register

Office of the Law Revision Counsel

Courts

Oyez

RECAP

Agencies

LSU Libraries Federal Agency Directory

UVA’s Federal Administrative Decisions and Other Actions

More Directed Resources Law Reviews + Journals

Subscription Feature

University Law Review Project

CEO Express

Library of Congress: Law Review Online

Research Guides

Cornell Law School Legal Research Engine

Zimmerman’s Research Guide

International + Foreign Law

Law Library of Congress

Legal Information Institute: Global Portal

United Nations Treaty Series

Electronic Information for International Law

There’s An App for That . . .

Legal Research + Scholarship Westlaw Next, Lexis Advance,

Bloomberg Law, HeinOnline, FastCase

dLaw, OpenRegs

Legal News + Information ABA Journal, The National Law

Journal, The American Lawyer JDSupra’s Legal Edge, Legal News

Reader iSCOTUS Now

Whither Legal Subscription Services? Niche practices are becoming more popular and are

increasingly complex.

There are a lot of free resources out there, especially for enterprising lawyers, especially for specific resource sets.

Will free, niche databases swallow subscription legal services?

No, because we pay for features = ease of use, too.

But, the open source legal research community, the reality of modern practice and the web savvy of modern attorneys will combine to continue to force subscription service providers to change the way they do business.

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”Just the TIP(S).

Sterling Archer, ISIS agent

Finagling

Three More Quick FastCase Tips

Cut + Paste Brief into Search Box; FastCase will find cited cases . . . usually

All of the Boolean Search Terms for Westlaw + Lexis work in FastCase

‘Show Search Tips’ tool features most common searches for each operator; they’re clickable

FastCase is FasterAlgorithm v Al Gorythm

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TRICKS and treachery are the practice of foolsthe wise, that don’t have enough brains to be honestwork smarter, not harder.

(paraphrasing) Benjamin Franklin, wanted the turkey for the national bird

Basic Research Tip #1

Know Your (Database) Limitations

Basic Research Tip #2

BOO-lean To You!

Basic Research Tip #3

Start Free; Finish Expensive

Basic Research Tip #4

Recreate the Wheel; Maintain the Wheel

Basic Research Tip #5

Going Mobile

THANK YOU!Jared D. Correia, Esq.

Assistant DirectorSenior Law Practice Advisor

Massachusetts Law Office Management Assistance Program

www.masslomap.org/blogwww.attorneyatwork.com/author/jaredcorreia

www.linkedin.com/in/jaredcorreia@jaredcorreia

*For assistance in the creation of this presentation, I am indebted to:

-Ed Walters and Josh Auriemma, both of FastCase-Ellen Delaney, of Suffolk University Law School’s John Joseph Moakley Law Library