During the Law Center’s 2010 Reunion Weekend In October, Georgetown’s Continuing Education Program teamed up with the Law Library to provide a program focused on alternatives to Lexis and Westlaw. Based on a successful online seminar held last August, the October program sought to help our alumni navigate the wealth of legal research Web sites and databases that have cropped up in the last few years.
While Lexis and Westlaw remain the dominant legal research services, there are a number of online resources that provide access to primary legal material. These sources have recently grown in both number and scope, and have emerged as legitimate legal research tools. For example, Google recently added a large amount of case law to its Google Scholar search engine, including all cases from the U.S. Supreme Court, and lower federal court cases issued since 1923.
In addition, low-cost databases such as Fastcase and Loislaw offer extensive libraries of case law, statutes, and regulations from every jurisdiction in the U.S. Although these databases are not free like Google, they are significantly less expensive than Lexis and Westlaw. And since some of these databases have arrangements with state and local bar associations, many lawyers will find they are already paying for access to them. While these databases all have significant limitations, attorneys who understand those limitations can use them to reduce their reliance on Lexis and Westlaw.
Georgetown law librarians regularly include discussions of these alternative resources as a part of legal research instruction for law students, and the Reunion Weekend program is part of an effort to expand that audience. By keeping Georgetown Law alumni aware of these alternative resources, particularly in the current economic climate, the Law Library hopes to provide valuable information and service to the Law Center community long after graduation.