What's the Best Online Tool or System for Researching Case Law

[Arazu Toth]

My question involves court procedures for the state of: Arizona

Can anyone recommend what they consider to be the best online tool/system for researching case law?

I need to be able to track down cases based on key legal terms in order to build my own references.

Thanks!

[Mr. Knowitall]

If you're talking higher end, WestLaw and Lexis are quite comparable - some prefer one or the other, but many pick whichever is cheapest when their contract is up for renewal.

For cheaper services you'll have to search out those that offer the case law and other resources you want and decide if their feature set is adequate - most, for example, lack a tool for checking the validity of a case, leaving you to search for future references to the case and to verify yourself whether or not the ruling has been affected by subsequent legislation or judicial rulings.

[flyingron]

If you try larger public libraries, or the libraries at many state universities, you may get to use Lexis (or Westlaw) there for free. It behooves you to be efficient as times may be limitted and others be waiting. You might want to try some "googling" to get some relevant cases (even if you can't find the opinions) before sitting down logged into Lexus.

Actually, Westlaw has a pay as you go service I used to do a few years back. You can search and I think you only pay when you pull the actual cases, but I'd check that.

[KeyWestDan]

There is no one tool that is best.

It depends if you are looking for freebies or you are a practicing attorney and can pay $200 a month or more (for a single practioner) for access to Lexis and Westlaw.

Google works fine for most purposes. Most appeal court opinions, etc. are available online.

LexisOne is the free version of Lexis and can be useful.

To do indepth research you need a real law library and you need to know how to sheperdize cases.

The most important thing is to have a complete understanding of the area of law you are researching. That means lots of reading of case law. Of course you need to have a good understanding of terms and concepts to begin with so you understand what you are reading and the significance of it.

[davidmcbeth3]

I use two, and they are both free. They include: Lexis (you can get back to 10 yrs historical opinions free w/reg.) & google scholar. But I actually prefer westlaw. Maybe your courthouse has westlaw & online then you can use all 3 if you like.

[nobeefcow]

I'm pro se and as broke as they come. If you Google and look for cases on Casetext, you can often read the case and copy and paste right from the page. Doesn't work though if you go to their website and try searching because then you'll get the pop up asking for a card. I also use Recap, a plugin for Google to revisit Pacer cases that are then sent to Court Listener. I think you can download documents that other's have purchased for free there.

Free trials are great too!

[flyingron]

I also had a "fastcase" (another Thompson service) subscription for a while. Gave you pretty good access to most state and federal stuff. Ran about $90/mo

[free9man]

This thread is almost 9 years old!

[flyingron]

Yeah, I noticed that, but this one, unlike most, is rather timeless in its subject matter.

[adjusterjack]

These days Google Scholar is a decent source and it's free.