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Legal Research and Writing

Get Jargon, Get Rid of Jargon

August 25, 2010 by Carolyn Elefant

If you’re an aficionado of legal jargon (and come on, aren’t all of us lawyers, at least when we’ve had too much to drink?), why not indulge yourself with two free e-books of jargon on project finance and corporate finance, courtesy of Latham & Watkins, with an H/T to Three Geeks & A Law Blog.
On [...]

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Fastcase Makes FREE CaseLaw on the Spot a Reality!

January 30, 2010 by Carolyn Elefant

To live in an era of wish fulfillment is an amazing thing.  That’s exactly how I felt yesterday when I downloaded Fastcase’s just released and 100 percent FREE legal research app for the iphone.  Yes, I can now search a full database of state and federal cases and statutes right on my phone for no [...]

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My Trip Out [to] West: A Preview of WestlawNext

January 28, 2010 by Carolyn Elefant

Earlier this week, I traveled to Thomson Reuters/West’s headquarters in Eagan, Minnesota to preview, along with a group of other bloggers, a demonstration of the next generation of Westlaw, WestlawNext (go to the end of post for a round up of coverage).  Though originally, I’d intended to comment on the product from the solo/small firm [...]

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Free Legal Research by Google & What It Means

November 17, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

What do I think about Google’s recent launch of a free, online legal research tool as part of Google Scholar?  (disclosure: my husband works for Google, but isn’t involved with the legal research project)
  Funny you should ask, because I’ve been tracking, evaluating and most of all, patiently awaiting the arrival of a functional, robust [...]

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LEXIS, You Could Have Had Us Solos at Hello

October 27, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

On the surface, this article about Lawyers.com’s upcoming television ad campaign, which is intended to attract more consumers to its site, seems like nothing more than business as usual in a down economy.  But there’s far more to it than that.   The Lawyers.com television strategy is both a reminder of lost opportunity by Reed-Elsevier (parent company to Lawyers.com and Lexis-Nexis) to gain footing [...]

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Legal Research for Solos: A Round-Up

July 14, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

Back in the dark ages when I started my firm, the only legal research options available were the library and a $600/month LEXIS subscription service, which actually had a cap on number of searches.  Fast forward fifteen years and Lexis costs have declined considerably, though not as much as one might expect in light of [...]

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Should You Charge for, Or Mark Up the Costs of Legal Research?

May 17, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

Over at my Legal Blogwatch beat, I posted about an ongoing lawsuit against biglaw firm Chadbourne Park, alleging that Chadbourne wrongfully billed the client $20,000 for online research services when the actual cost to the firm was only around $5000.   The suit alleges that the firm engaged in deceptive trade practices in violation of state [...]

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Great Criminal Law Resource, and Why It Helps Solos

April 12, 2007 by Carolyn Elefant

At Illinois Trial Lawyer , Evan Schaeffer shares a wonderfully valuable resource, The Center for Criminal Justice Advocacy.  The Center was formed as a free, non-partisan training resource to assist new lawyers in becoming competent criminal practitioners.  And one of the Center’s missions is to provide newly licensed sole practitioners with materials to provide a [...]

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More on the Joys of Law Libraries

April 25, 2006 by Carolyn Elefant

Like Barry Kaufman, I’m a huge fan of the law library and recognize that it’s an indispensable tool for solo practitioners.  Which is why I’m thrilled to be able to offer this Guest Post, Eight Reasons Solo Lawyers Should Use Law Libraries  from Mary Whisner, the assistant librarian for reference services at the Gallagher Law [...]

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Not the Way to Win on Rehearing

March 12, 2006 by Carolyn Elefant

David Swanner posts this excerpt from a rehearing petition that’s likely to lose.  Read it and see if you can figure out why:
Statement of Issue Presented for Review: The Court of Appeals committed a major error in affirming the dismissal. The Court did not address the facts of the case. The Court has a warped [...]

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