Kathy Biehl is a member of the State Bar of Texas and co-author of the Lawyer’s Guide to Internet Research. Formerly in private practice, she is an author, researcher and consultant in the New York City area.
Each edition of Research Roundup will pull together related, practical online services that take outstanding advantage of the convenience and efficiency of the Internet.
There’s no need to wait for the advance sheets to arrive in the mail, if a slip opinion listserver or notification service is available for the jurisdictions you follow. Though traditional fee-based subscription services exist, a number of these list emanates directly from courts, at no cost. This list represents my most recent tally of both types of alert services and will be periodically updated. The fee-based listings include services that are available at no additional charge to paid subscribers of a publication or members of an organization. The RoundUp does not extend to slip opinion postings at Web sites. For slip opinions on the Web, a comprehensive starting point is Legal Dockets Online, which indexes official postings, by jurisdiction and court.
This update corrects descriptions to reflect site changes and adds services for appellate courts in Alaska and technology law decisions. If I’ve missed an e-mail service (or a new one is launched), please let me know at [email protected].
Free Slip Opinion Listservers
VersusLaw’s AdvanceLinks service sends weekly reports with links to new caselaw on any combination of seven topics (conflict of interests, death penalty, DWI, federal sentencing, immigration, legal malpractice, and sanctions). Although VersusLaw’s other products are on a subscription basis, AdvanceLinks is free and open to anyone.
To receive the Report of Decisions’ official syllabi of opinions the day they are issued, send a blank message to [email protected]. You can also sign up using the Web subscription form. This service is provided by the Legal Information Institute at Cornell School of Law. FindLaw sends out daily summaries of Supreme Court opinions with links to the full text of opinions.
Williamette Law Online, a project of Willamette University College of Law, provides same-day student-drafted summaries of certiorari granted, oral arguments and published decisions. Subscribe at
http://www.willamette.edu/law/wlo/subsc.htm.
First Circuit Court of Appeals
FindLaw sends out daily summaries of First Circuit opinions with links to the full text of opinions.
Second Circuit Court of Appeals
FindLaw sends out daily summaries of Second Circuit opinions with links to the full text of opinions.
Third Circuit Court of Appeals
FindLaw sends out daily summaries of Third Circuit opinions with links to the full text of opinions.
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals
FindLaw sends out daily summaries of Fourth Circuit opinions with links to the full text of opinions.
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals sends out opinions by e-mail (in WordPerfect 8) as they are released; join the published opinions subscription list at the Court’s site here. FindLaw sends out daily summaries of Fifth Circuit opinions with links to the full text of opinions.
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals
FindLaw sends out daily summaries of Sixth Circuit opinions with links to the full text of opinions.
Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
FindLaw sends out daily summaries of Seventh Circuit opinions with links to the full text of opinions.
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals
FindLaw sends out daily summaries of Eighth Circuit opinions with links to the full text of opinions.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
FindLaw sends out daily summaries of Ninth Circuit opinions with links to the full text of opinions. Calvin House of the Pasadena firm Gutierrez, Preciado & House, LLP publishes a monthly Ninth Circuit newsletter called Appellate Decisions Noted; subscription information is at http://www.appellate-counsellor.com/newslett.htm.
Williamette Law Online, a project of Willamette University College of Law, provides weekly student-drafted summaries of recent decisions. Subscribe at http://www.willamette.edu/law/wlo/subsc.htm.
Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals
FindLaw sends out daily summaries of Tenth Circuit opinions with links to the full text of opinions.
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
FindLaw sends out daily summaries of Eleventh Circuit opinions with links to the full text of opinions.
Federal Circuit Court of Appeals
FindLaw sends out daily summaries of Federal Circuit opinions with links to the full text of opinions.
FindLaw sends out daily summaries of D.C. Circuit opinions with links to the full text of opinions.
Wallace, Jordan, Ratliff & Brandt, L.L.C. sends out descriptions of the previous week’s Supreme Court opinions; subscription information is at the firm’s Website.
The appellate clerk’s office sends out weekly notice, with links to the text, of opinions and MOJs issued by the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals. Subscribe to the ak-slip-opinions listserv by filling out the office’s online form. Williamette Law Online, a project of Willamette University College of Law, provides student-drafted summaries of recent Supreme Court decisions. Subscribe at http://www.willamette.edu/law/wlo/subsc.htm.
FindLaw has three California newsletters, which send out daily summaries of Supreme Court and/or Appellate Court opinions with links to the full text of opinions. One newsletter covers only the Supreme Court, the second only the Appellate Courts, and the third both levels.
Williamette Law Online, project of Willamette University College of Law, provides student-drafted summaries of recent Supreme Court decisions. Subscribe at http://www.willamette.edu/law/wlo/calif/index.htm.
FindLaw sends out daily summaries of Supreme Court decisions with links to the full text of opinions.
The Illinois Courts send e-mail notice when new Supreme and Appellate Court opinions are posted at the official site. Subscribe by sending a message containing “subscribe Opinions [Your Name]” to [email protected]. Do not use brackets, and replace “[your name]” with the name for the subscription.)
Illinois Court Reports sends e-mail notification of new opinions by subscription.
The Iowa Judicial Branch sends e-mail notice of Supreme Court and Court of Appeals opinions. Sign up at http://www.judicial.state.ia.us/common/email/.
The Michigan Bar Association’s daily e-Journal includes summaries of state and federal court decisions (as well as other news of legal interest). Any person (not merely association members) may sign up. The subscription link appears near the middle of the right frame.
The Supreme Court sends out notification of changes to its Website, such as posting new slip opinions. Sign up for the service at http://www.state.nh.us/courts/listserv.htm.
FindLaw sends out daily summaries of Court of Appeals opinions with links to the full text of opinions. For an analysis of recent Court of Appeals decisions (which may be two weeks old), send the message “subscribe liibulletin-ny [your name]” to [email protected]. You can also subscribe using the Web-based subscription form. This is another service of Cornell’s Legal Information Institute.
The Supreme Court sends out notices when new opinions have been issued and posted to the website. Subscribe by sending e-mail to [email protected] containing the message:
“Subscribe to E-mail Notice
“[your name]
“[your address]
“[your North Dakota bar number, if a member]”
replacing the bracketed words with the appropriate information.
The Court of Criminal Appeals has a mailing list for distributing decisions on the day of release. To sign up, send e-mail to [email protected].
Williamette Law Online, a project of Willamette University College of Law, provides weekly student-drafted summaries of recent decisions by the Oregon Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. Subscribe at
http://www.willamette.edu/law/wlo/subsc.htm.
TBALink Opinion-Flash, a service of the Tennessee Bar Association, distributes the latest appellate decisions by e-mail to anyone (not merely bar members) who subscribes at http://tba.org/op-flash.html .
Texas Tech University School of Law sends notification as new opinions appear on the Supreme Court site. The notice includes the first paragraph of the opinion and a link to the full text. FindLaw sends our daily summaries of Supreme Court and Court of Appeals decisions with links to the full text of opinions. The Court of Appeals of the Fifth Judicial District will e-mail you your choice of civil, criminal, published or all opinions. Look for the vNotices! icon at the site.
The Utah State Courts offer an e-mail service that gives notice when new opinions are posted at the site. Any combination is available of Supreme Court opinions, Court of Appeals opinions, and Court of Appeals Memorandum and Per Curiam decisions. Subscribe at http://courtlink.utcourts.gov/opinions/subscribe/index.htm. Williamette Law Online, a project of Willamette University College of Law, provides student-drafted summaries of recent Supreme Court decisions. Subscribe at http://www.willamette.edu/law/wlo/subsc.htm.
Williamette Law Online, a project of Willamette University College of Law, provides student-drafted summaries of recent Supreme Court decisions. Subscribe at http://www.willamette.edu/law/wlo/subsc.htm.
The Clerk’s Office of the Supreme Court of Appeals sends out an e-mail bulletin containing summaries of recent opinions, with links to the full text. Subscribe at http://www.state.wv.us/wvsca/subscribe.htm.
WisBar’s Caselaw Express starts each week with a list of the decisions handed down by the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals in the previous week. The list includes links to the opinions’ full text. Subscribe by sending a blank e-mail message to [email protected].
Fee-Based Slip Opinion Services
U.S. Law Week subscribers receive e-mail alerts with the table of contents for BNA’s services weekly reports, which include summaries of federal decisions (among other resources).
JuriSearch subscribers receive summaries of opinions from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the California Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal the day after their release. A 30-day trial is available.
A law.com/ca subscription includes daily opinion summaries by e-mail. The covered courts are the California Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal, the Ninth Circuit court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court. A 30-day trial is available.
The Colorado State Bar e-mails summaries of Supreme Court and Court of Appeals decisions to bar members; sign up for e-slips.
The Connecticut State Bar offers a “case e-lert” to bar members who pay an annual subscription rate for the service. The cost begins at $200 for three practice areas, with a $25 charge for each additional area.
Florida
JuriSearch subscribers receive summaries opinions from the Florida Supreme Court and District Courts of Appeal. A 30-day trial is available.
E-mail notification of newly issued Georgia appellate decisions comes with a paid subscription to law.com/ga. A 30-day trial is available
The Illinois State Bar Association e-mails digests of Seventh Circuit and Illinois Supreme and Appellate Court decisions, with links to full text, to bar members.
Members of the Maryland State Bar Association may sign up for Electronic Bar Briefs, which are synopses of Court of Appeals and Court of Special Appeals decisions in user-designated practice areas.
Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly‘s Daily E-Mail alert includes notice of Supreme Court and Court of Appeals slip opinions. A three-issue trial is available.
Michigan Lawyers Weekly subscribers may sign up to receive notice of Supreme Court and Court of Appeals slip opinions by e-mail. A three-issue trial is available.
The Minnesota State Bar Association offers its members four free mailing lists, which send published state or federal civil or criminal decisions. Sign up at http://www2.mnbar.org/sec/ctopsinst.htm .
Missouri Lawyers Weekly subscribers may sign up to receive notice of Supreme Court and Court of Appeals slip opinions by e-mail. A three-issue trial is available
North Carolina Lawyers Weekly subscribers may sign up to receive notice of Supreme Court and Court of Appeals slip opinions by e-mail. A three-issue trial is available.
Ohio Lawyers Weekly subscribers may sign up to receive notice of Supreme Court slip opinions by e-mail. A three-issue trial is available.
A subscription to law.com/pa (with content from the Legal Intelligencer) includes a daily alert with links to the most recent state court opinions . A 30-day trial subscription is available.
Law.com/texas subscribers receive daily e-mail alerts of the latest state, Fifth Circuit, and U.S. Supreme Court opinions. A 30-day trial is available.
Virginia Lawyers Weekly subscribers may sign up to receive digests of Supreme Court and Court of Appeals slip opinions by e-mail. A three-issue trial is available.
AspenLawDirect is an e-mail delivery service for a wide range of opinions. Its scope encompasses 120 areas of law and 165 issuing bodies (state courts as well as federal courts and agencies). Each notice includes decision summaries and links to the text. An annual subscription to five areas of law costs $195; an additional five areas cost $99. A free 90-day trial is available.
Instacase offers a daily e-mail service called iGest, which delivers summaries of recent decisions in user-specified areas. Nationwide coverage is not yet available; the site’s archive currently contains decisions from only 11 jurisdictions (nine states, the Third Circuit, and the Supreme Court.) The cost is $99 a year, and a 60-day free trial is available.
The Daily Opinion Service allows visitors to retrieve summaries of slip opinions (from all state courts and federal district courts, the Circuit Courts of Appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court and some specialized courts) that have been issued within the previous two weeks – including the current day, if it is during the work week. There is no charge to run searches or view summaries of core terms in the opinions. To read an opinion, you must have a Web subscription to LEXIS-NEXIS or purchase the document by credit card.
The Electronic Advance Sheet Service, available through lexisONE, delivers opinions as they are issued by selected courts and/or on selected topics. The user may designate up to 10 courts and up to 10 topics (out of 40). The price is currently $ 1 9 8 a year .
Loislaw.com subscribers may set up the LOIS LawWatch feature to e-mail new decisions (and other developments) that match saved search terms. (Alternatively, this feature saves the updates on the user’s personal Loislaw.com start page.)
TechLaw
Tech Law Journal’s Daily E-Mail Alert includes news and analysis of litigation affecting the computer and Internet industries. An annual subscription costs $250, which is waived for law students, elected officials, journalists, and employees of Congress, courts, and the executive branch.
©Kathy Biehl 2002. All Rights Reserved.