INTERNET LEGAL RESEARCH WEEKLY
March 30, 2003
Tom MighellWelcome to Issue #107 of the Internet Legal Research Weekly, a newsletter that delivers relevant and timely legal research information, and other fun stuff, to your inbox every Sunday. If you like what you read, please forward this newsletter to anyone you think might be interested, and encourage him or her to do the same! To subscribe, all you have to do is visit Inter Alia and fill out the subscription form -- it's free!
I'll be at ABA Techshow next week, so the newsletter won't be published again until April 13. Until then, visit Inter Alia for regular updates from Techshow!
And away we go…..
End spam FOREVER
A new start-up company wants to permanently end spam with a new program called MailBlocks. When the software intercepts an e-mail from an unknown source, it sends an e-mail to the sender with an image and a form to fill out. When the sender views the image and fills out the form (proving it's a human and not a mass e-mail sender), the software forwards the e-mail to the recipient. After reading the Privacy Agreement for the site, however, I learned that MailBlocks requires you to "opt in" to the Service by providing certain personal information during the registration process -- if you don't opt in, you can't use the service. This information is then used to target advertising sent to you from MailBlocks. MailBlocks corrected this privacy policy on Wednesday.Rhode Island Lawyers get free internet legal research
CaseMaker is live in Rhode Island! The service provides lawyers with unlimited access to online legal research, 24 hours a day, seven days a week from any computer with an Internet connection. While the service isn't as robust as Westlaw or Lexis, it's a good starting point before resorting to the pay services. Texas has a pretty good portal in MyTexasBar, but I think I would like CaseMaker even more.Quality business research that's free? Ha!
Alas, it's true -- SearchDay reports on ZapData, a service that allows you to build market analysis reports by industry.Nothing but war news
One of the better sites posting regular war news is The Agonist -- he claims to have 22 browsers open on his computer, so he's definitely on top of the news. Another site worth mentioning is Warblogs.cc, a war news aggregator site. These sites are providing more up-to-date information than some of the news agencies.Give it a whirl
Daily Whirl is a terrific new site that takes all of your favorite law-related weblogs (you know you have some) and displays the most recent headlines from each blog. You can also customize the page to receive only those weblogs you want to see.Weekly Blawg Update
Time for a fresh batch of law-related weblogs I discovered this week. First up is the Indiana Law Blog, featuring a focus on administrative law, plus interesting developments in law and technology. Lots of biotech and environmental news here. Another addition to the ranks of law student bloggers is the appropriately named Law Student's Journal, by Mike at Thomas M. Cooley Law School. AmazonLawyer is a law-related weblog "devoted to legal issues concerning women's rights, children's rights, terrorism, first responders, municipal government, aeronautics and aviation, Alice Cooper," and anything else that strikes her fancy.Gary Hart becomes the second (possible) presidential candidate with a blog --and from the looks of it, he writes his own material. We'll see how long that lasts. Closer to home, Dallas law firm Verner & Brumley has launched the Texas Family Law Blawg, which intends to post appellate opinions relating to family law within 24-48 hours of being released.
Hawai'i Ku I Ke Kanawai 'Imi I Ke Kumu
It has been a while since I explored the legal resources of one of our 50 states -- the next one in line is Hawaii, the Aloha State. The title above, according to the Coconut Boyz Hawaiian Dictionary, means "Hawaiian Legal Research." I have no idea if it's right, but it sure looks interesting. Hawaii doesn't have a lot of legal research sites, but the ones it does have are pretty decent. Let's take a look at a few.
We'll start with the state's home page, eHawaiiGov. The links here are very small, but get you where you need to go -- government, working, living, visiting, and education. There's also a link to online services, where Hawaii residents can access many government functions, including business searches and filings, e-filing of taxes, professional and vocational license searches, ordering vital records, business and licensee complaint history, and more. The government page provides links to all branches of the Hawaii government as well as all agencies that are part of the executive branch. A nifty page is the Virtual Rules Center, which provides links to rules for all of Hawaii's state governmental departments.
On to the legislative branch. The Hawaii State Legislature website is fairly amateur as these sites go, but it provides *almost* all the information you need. You can search for bill information and status by keyword or by browsing the directory, as well as review regular hearing session notices. There are also links to the House and Senate, and helpful resources on how the Legislature operates. I was disappointed, however, in Hawaii's statutes -- the Hawaii Revised Statutes are found at the bottom of the Bill Status page, but you're only given a box to conduct a keyword search. There's a link allowing you to "browse" the statute volumes, but it is primitive and terribly confusing. Hawaii's statutes need some work.
The Hawaii State Judiciary, by comparison, has a pretty good site. There are tons of links here, with general information, self-help resources, services, courts, news and reports, sites for attorneys, legal references, and community outreach pages to be found here. Across the top of the home page are links to forms, a court records search, opinions, and rules, among others. Appellate court opinions are available back to 1998, in PDF format. The Hawaii Bar Association also has a page of selected court opinions going back even farther. The Rules page provides great one-stop shopping for all of Hawaii's rules, including civil, criminal, probate, family, and more. Hawaii has one U.S. District Court, one bankruptcy court, and is part of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
A few more helpful sites before we bid aloha to Hawaii's legal resources. The Hawaii Bar Association boasts a newly-designed website with lots of helpful information. There are links to CLE seminars, resources for consumers, a lawyer referral service, and much more. The most valuable page here for the legal researcher is the "Legal Research" page, which provides links to all you need: home pages and ordinances for the major cities, state and federal court rules, dockets, forms, orders, and opinions, administrative rules, statutes, and guidelines for professional civility. This page contains about all of the links mentioned in this article, so bookmark it for handy reference.
Know any Hawaii legal resources I'm missing? Drop me a line and I'll mention them in a future issue!
When you're using Word, you'll notice that every time you type a URL, it automatically turns into a link, making the text smaller and underlining it. Do you want to turn this off? Go to the Tools menu, and select Autocorrect. From there, choose the AutoFormat tab, and uncheck the box next to "Internet and network paths with hyperlinks." Click OK, and you're set!
Do you have a question about searching the Internet or your computer in general? Drop me an e-mail– I’ll post your question (don’t worry, I won’t use your real name) and try to get an answer for you!
Legally Relevant – Sites on the Internet
AdLaw
Maintained by the law firm of Hall, Dickler, Kent, Goldstein, and Wood, AdLaw bills itself as "the premier source of legal information for advertising and marketing professionals who need to know!" The Know How link is the best part of this site; there you'll find descriptions of recent cases handled by the firm, articles on sweepstakes,lotteries, and other promotional contests, and a great handbook to legal issues in advertising. You can also sign up for AdLaw by Request: The Online Marketing and Advertising Report, a free newsletter published by the firm. This is a terrific use of the Internet to market a discrete area of law.Benefits Essentials
Benefits Essentials is designed to provide business managers and their advisors – attorneys, accountants, insurance agents, consultants and others – with the practical and legal information they need to effectively and efficiently deal with the many compliance and other issues they encounter on a day-to-day basis, in their business and personal lives. Although premium content is available only to subscribers ($150/year, after a free 15-day trial), but the materials available for free are pretty significant. The Library has information on employee benefits, human resources, estate planning, retirement planning, and taxes and finance. There are also separate resource guides on employee benefits, human resources, and personal finances.Center for Technology in Government
With the rise of technology, more and more government agencies are providing information by electronic means. The CTG works with government to develop information strategies that foster innovation and enhance the quality and coordination of public services. This site primarily provides a listing of the projects being undertaken by the CTG, including "state-local Internet gateway prototype," "E-Government: Creating Tools of the Trade," and "Designing the Digital Government of the 21st Century."Daubert on the Web
This site has been up and running for awhile, but I'm just now getting around to reviewing it. Those of you with a litigation background will recognize that Daubert is the lawsuit that set standards for admissibility of expert opinions at trial. It's maintained by Philadelphia lawyer Peter Nordberg, and it contains some terrific information. There's a section interpreting the Daubert (pronounced Dow-burt) opinion, a procedure area describing the various steps to take in federal court, a listing of Daubert opinions by federal circuit or by field of expertise, and tactics for getting around a Daubert challenge.Email Directory
Need to find an e-mail address? E-Mail Directory wants to help. It provides links to e-mail directories on the Internet in a variety of categories. The directory is divided into four sections -- People, Groups, Professional, and Universities. Each category contains a list of links to e-mail directories, some of which are useful, some less so.
Finally, some fun and useful sites for you this week:
Those of you who use Tivo know (or should know) that it records your actions while you're watching television -- what channels you visit as well as the recorded content you pause or rewind the most. In this article, Tivo reports on your Oscar-viewing behavior.
If you're in the market for a good shopping bargain, why not try the federal government? FirstGov's Citizen Gateway offers new, seized, and surplus merchandise for the government. Find souvenirs, books, cars and transportation, supplies and equipment, real estate, and more.
Well, that’s it for Issue #107 – I hope you liked it! If you did, pass this along to anyone you think might be interested, and encourage him or her to subscribe. Also, feel free to drop me an e-mail any time if you have questions, or if you have websites or other topics you want included in a future issue.
Tom Mighell
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