I’ve had several posts in recent months about various efforts to move caselaw into the public domain and, once there, to make it more accessible. I also had a recent article about this in Law Technology News, Online Legal Research Revolution. Now, some updates:

  • David Hobbie at his blog Caselines puts public-domain search engine PreCYdent to the test and “was stunned” by the results. “I have never seen such a highly relevant set of search results on any electronic case search engine. Not in Westlaw. Not in Lexis. Not anywhere.”
  • Meanwhile, PreCYdent has moved from alpha to beta with a release it describes as more stable. Its recent newsletter (sent to everyone who registers) says it is working hard to extend its database to all state jurisdictions. It has also added a Government Printing Office archive of 1.3 million documents and a database of legal forms.
Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.