Free Legal Research- Don't Miss The Boat

by David Ransin

If you are not using Fastcase you are missing the boat !!

I encourage everyone to look into the online legal research tools available to members of the Springfield Bar.

And:  it’s FREE !

Some firms have been paying high prices for premium online legal research services like LexisNexis or WestLaw for so long that they may not have bothered to look into this option. If you prefer those services and the high prices, then you can stop reading right now.

However, if you are like the majority of our fellow small or solo practitioners, you probably have been getting along without any legal research other than Google.

I was amazed when I learned that there are only 8 SMBA members currently using Fastcase through the Springfield bar subscription. 

I began using Fastcase a number of years ago, as it was previously called LoisLaw, and have found it to do everything I need.

Fastcase is offered by the Missouri Bar, and I have access to it through the Illinois Bar, and another organization to which I belong, but those options offer fewer features than the subscription available to the Springfield bar through the Greene County Law Library.

You have online access to search all:

• U.S. Supreme Court
• Federal Courts of Appeal
• District Courts
• Bankruptcy Courts
• 50 state Supreme and Appellate Courts
• nationwide state and federal statutes and regulations
• all the MoBar CLE Black Books

Annual online access to the MoBar CLE books alone would cost you $99 per book, or $499 for all the books.

This is a great resource for members of our bar, however, if only 8 individuals continue to use the service, the cost per person is prohibitive.

Please check out the Greene County Law Library Fastcase subscription by contacting James at the SMBA 417 831-2783 or info@springfieldbar.com so more members will begin to use the service and justify this as an ongoing expenditure.

And, did I mention: it’s FREE !!!