Free Legal Research via State Bar Associations: An Update

Last October, Goodson Law Library Head of Reference Services Jennifer L. Behrens compiled an online map detailing which low-cost legal research services were provided for free to members of various state bar associations. This was an update of a 2010 map created by Greg Lambert of 3 Geeks and a Law Blog.

Since the October 2013 map was compiled, several state bars have either changed or announced upcoming changes to their free legal research services to members. The Goodson Law Library map has now been updated for June 2014 to reflect those changes, and can be found at TargetMap.com or downloaded below.

Although the overall market share of leading services Fastcase and Casemaker remains steady, several states have made changes to their designated free research service. Most notably, the State Bar of Texas will offer both Fastcase and Casemaker to its members, after previously providing only Casemaker. Several states will also switch their longstanding services later this year, with Pennsylvania adopting Casemaker this summer in place of its InCite service, and South Carolina switching from Casemaker to Fastcase in November.

Chart view: Legal Research Services by State Bar Association, as of 06/27/2014 07/01/2014 (thanks to Ed Walters, CEO of Fastcase, for the correction)

State	Service Offered
Alabama	Casemaker
Alaska	Casemaker
Arizona	Fastcase
Arkansas	Fastcase
California	No statewide service (some access via local bars)
Colorado	Casemaker
Connecticut	Casemaker
Delaware	No statewide service
District of Columbia	Fastcase
Florida	Fastcase
Georgia	Fastcase
Hawaii	Fastcase
Idaho	Casemaker
Illinois	Fastcase
Indiana	Casemaker
Iowa	Fastcase
Kansas	Casemaker
Kentucky	Casemaker
Louisiana	Fastcase
Maine	Casemaker
Maryland	Fastcase
Massachusetts	Casemaker
Michigan	Casemaker
Minnesota	Fastcase
Mississippi	Casemaker
Missouri	Fastcase
Montana	No statewide service Fastcase
Nebraska	Casemaker
Nevada	Fastcase
New Hampshire	Casemaker
New Jersey	Fastcase
New Mexico	Fastcase
New York	Fastcase
North Carolina	Fastcase
North Dakota	Casemaker
Ohio	Casemaker
Oklahoma	Fastcase
Oregon	Fastcase
Pennsylvania	InCite (switching to Casemaker in August 2014)
Rhode Island	Casemaker
South Carolina	Casemaker (switching to Fastcase in Nov. 2014)
South Dakota	Fastcase
Tennessee	Fastcase
Texas	Both Casemaker and Fastcase
Utah	Casemaker
Vermont	Casemaker
Virginia	Fastcase
Washington	Casemaker
West Virginia	Fastcase
Wisconsin	Fastcase
Wyoming	Casemaker

Currently, Duke Law students can sign up for free access to Casemaker through the CasemakerX educational platform. Although there is currently no direct access at Duke Law to Fastcase, currently-enrolled law students can join the North Carolina Bar Association for free to enjoy this membership benefit. In addition, Duke students can see some Fastcase materials through its partnership with HeinOnline. HeinOnline's research libraries include links to state and federal case law which are powered by Fastcase. Fastcase's Authority Check citation analysis tool is also used within Hein in order to locate additional relevant case law and make note of potentially negative treatment. To see the Hein-Fastcase partnership in action, visit HeinOnline and click the Fastcase tab in order to quickly access cases by citation. 

For more information about low-cost legal research alternatives, check out the Goodson Law Library guide to Legal Research on the Web or Ask a Librarian.