Futurelawyer

Hey, Lawyer! Why Are You Paying For Legal Research?

AnyLaw. I remember, as a young lawyer, spending hours in my law library, updating volumes of Florida Statutes Annotated, with pocket parts that came every month. In order to stay current, much of the library required monthly additions via pocket part, and my first clerking job was primarily keeping the law library up to date. When cases and statutes started being published on CD Rom, I was excited, because I could hold an entire library in a few CDs, and carry it around to plug into my 15 pound portable computer. When the Eighties and Nineties came, and the Internet went online, I spent a lot of time telling anyone who would listen that all the law would ultimately be accessed on the Internet. Now, it is true; but, the old law publishers aren't going down without a fight. Who owns the law? The taxpayers who pay for it, that's who. But, those who would make it accessible in one place, and searchable using AI and search engines, need to make a living also. AnyLaw is providing free and open access to the law, and statutes, and will ultimately earn by using the advertising model. But, you can do basic primary law research at AnyLaw with no more investment than your time. There are paid legal research services that provide additional access to secondary sources, and other stuff. But, if you are paying for basic case and statute finding research, you are throwing money away. Begin your project with Google Scholar and AnyLaw. You will be surprised at the quality and quantity of the results.

FutureLawyer Featured At Typepad.

Featured Blog - FutureLawyer I have proudly been a Typepad blogger since 2005, and was pleased to get featured today, highlighting the recent naming of FutureLawyer as most prolific law blog by LexBlog. Of course, prolific just means I do it more than anyone else. I will leave judgments as to quality to others. Thanks, Typepad. You have been a consistent, reliable host for 15 years. Typepad is a great blog platform, and a great place to hang your blog hat.

Who Is The Oldest Of Them All? How Long Have You Been On The Internet?

I gave my first seminar on the Internet for lawyers in 1994. It is hard to believe that I have been shilling for Lawyers on the Internet for 26 years. That date coincides with my first website for the FutureLawyer, which has been going strong every day since. Teaching lawyers about the Internet and how it could amplify and energize their law practices has been a life long obsession. So, I look with pride at the complete integration of the Internet into the practice of law, just as it has infiltrated other professions. Technology can be harnessed for good purposes, and can enable a life well lived. In 1994, when my Committee on Technology conducted the first statewide demo of the World Wide Web for lawyers at the Florida Bar Convention, we setup computers and monitors and dial up access, and sat Bar members down to show them the future of legal research and computing. I actually saved the graphics banner from the Convention, and it is mounted on the wall of my home office.

Know Your Courts - Florida Changes In Courts Of Appeal.

Florida Know Your Court In the old days, (Yes, I am old) the standing joke after I got out of law school was that young lawyers "didn't know the way to the courthouse", much less what to do when they got there. Well, in a digital world, not knowing your way around technology is the corollary. In case you haven't been paying attention, a Notice of Appeal of a County Court case used to be filed with the Circuit Court, which is the general trial court in Florida. However, on January 1st, 2021, that jurisdiction moves to the District Court of Appeal for most cases. Check out the State Court Administrator's website on the topic, also cited at Legal Fuel, for specifics. And, since most things are filed electronically these days in Florida, you only have to know your way to, and around, your computer, to practice law. Physical courthouses? Who needs 'em!

Legal Fuel Free Document Library - Don't Reinvent The Wheel.

Legal Fuel Document Library. Lawyers use document banks in order to be detailed and thorough. There are many advantages to using documents already created. It saves time for the lawyer and for the client. Time saved is money saved. But, a big reason we reuse documents is to make sure we deal with as many variables and issues as possible. Accurate, comprehensive documents can reduce uncertainty and conflict down the road. Lawyers also need documents for law firm management and internal purposes. The Florida Bar's excellent website, LegalFuel.com, is a good place to start in searching for the document you need. Many of these documents will serve lawyers from other States as well. One Caveat: use form documents as a starting point, and read them word for word. Consider what changes are needed to meet your specific needs, and never rely on computer generated documents without considering how they will impact you and your particular problem. Now, go be a competent lawyer.

Lawyer - Educate Yourself

LegalFuel Free C.L.E. Florida lawyers are required to take continuing legal education courses in order to keep their licenses in good standing. The number of required hours isn't onerous; but, finding interesting and valuable courses can be challenging, and expensive. So, the Bar's LegalFuel.com website is a great destination for lawyers looking for CLE, and has hours of it for an amazing price: free. Yes, Virginia, you too can get your required CLE for free. Nada. Zilch. Now, Mr. or Ms. Lawyer, go educate yourself.

The Munger Operating System

Munger Operating System. Kurt Harden, at Cultural Offering, points to some pretty sane rules to live by, from Charlie Munger. You can guess that they are Stoic principles, the first of which is that, no matter what happens to us in life, the key is to learn from it, and not to dwell on the bad effects. We choose to learn and grow and accept. If you want to attract good people to your orbit, first be good. Avoid intense ideologies. They will destroy the objectivity necessary to acquire wisdom. There are many other important principles espoused by Charlie Munger. Start here and get back with me in 25 years.

Technology Has Its Limits.

It is easy to put too much faith in technology as a problem solving or legal tool. While I am happy that many law firms are adopting new technology, and are abandoning old systems, it can be harmful to expect too much from the new tech. For example, a cloud based case management system only works well if the lawyer is diligent about data entry, and someone keeps an eye on things like data security and backup. Try to strike a balance between too much faith in the magic of technology, and avoidance of it.

GMail Security Is Your Responsibility.

4 Steps You Should Take To Secure Your GMail Account Today. Believe me when I tell you that it gives me no pleasure to hit you with another email about computer security. As lawyers, you should be more concerned, because you are protecting client data as well as your own. For my readers who aren't lawyers; especially those who keep sending Facebook messages that they have been hacked, I am very weary of telling you to enable two factor authentication. I now identify with my dad, who said the same type of thing as he was applying a foreign object to my posterior. But, here we go again. These tips about GMail security also apply to other social media and online apps. For God's sake, at the least, make any hacker who wants to get into your system figure out how to get by two factor authentication. Set up a second layer of security that involves sending a text to your smartphone. Presumably, you will be the only one with access to it. Yes, I am a nag. But, nagging sometimes works. At least, it has worked on me.

Legal Research Online Is Not Your Daddy's Research Tool.

Covid 19 Case Alerts Monthly. Fastcase is always pushing the legal research envelope. When we were using books to do legal research ( back in the olden days), our case law research was delayed by as much as months to years. In 2020, facing a pandemic that will surely create a lot of new case law, from "force majeure" clauses in contracts, to free speech cases involving lockdowns and mask mandates, it is essential to have current law on hand asap. Fastcase, through contracts with State Bars, provides online legal research to Florida lawyers as part of Bar membership. The new $29 a month Covid 19 monthly, is provided free to current subscribers to Fastcase. I pay extra every year to expand the database to all states. I haven't driven to a law library in years; and, I don't even walk out to my own law library at work anymore. I don't know if this is a good thing, or a bad thing; but, it is certainly a thing that provides me with current research.