On May 12, 2012, Fastcase CEO Ed Walters delivered the commencement address at the University of Illinois College of Law, at the Krannert Center for Performing Arts.  The text of the address follows: University of Illinois College of Law Commencement Address May 12, 2012 Thank you, Dean Smith.  Members of the faculty, university administrators, distinguished alumni, parents, and members [...]

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On the heels of the Facebook IPO, there have been some pretty interesting articles on the role that Facebook is beginning to play in the legal world. Last week the state of Maryland passed a law, broadly speaking, prohibiting employers from asking employees and potential employees for their social media log-in information. This is the first [...]

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In response to yesterday’s blog regarding the case involving 2 Sharons and 1 Lottery ticket, the majority of you sided with Sharon 2 claiming Sharon 1 abandoned the ticket when she threw it in the trash. One awesome Fastcase blog reader took it a step further with the following answer: “Sharon 1 is the rightful owner [...]

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As I was perusing the interwebs today, I came across this interesting case of two women in Arkansas named Sharon vying for the same lottery winnings. We’ll call them Sharon 1 and Sharon 2 (yes, that is a reference to Arrested Development).  Sharon 1 purchased the ticket and checked it using a convenience store computer. The [...]

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All of us at Fastcase wish you a Happy National Law Day! Today the White House issued a proclamation re-affirming President Eisenhower’s declaration of National Law Day in 1958. In Obama’s proclamation, he announced the theme of this year’s Law Day which is “No Courts. No Freedom. No Justice” which is meant to “recall(s) the historic role our [...]

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All of us at Fastcase wish you a Happy National Law Day! Today the White House issued a proclamation re-affirming President Eisenhower’s declaration of National Law Day in 1958. In Obama’s proclamation, he announced the theme of this year’s Law Day which is “No Courts. No Freedom. No Justice” which is meant to “recall(s) the historic role [...]

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Every decade or so there seems to be a resurgence of Titanic-fever. With the 100th anniversary of its notorious trip it seems like it is back! In addition to seeing Kate and Leo in 3-D, I have also used this opportunity to take a look at some of the court cases involving the Titanic in [...]

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Got an hour?  Today, April 30, at 10am Eastern Fastcase is hosting Boolean (Keyword) Search for Lawyers – a webinar about how to maximize your time spent researching. To join us, click here.

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On June 27, 2011, the Supreme Court ruled that video games are protected under the First Amendment because they “like protected books, plays, and movies, [they] communicate ideas through familiar literary devices and features distinctive to the medium. And ‘the basic principles of freedom of speech … do not vary’ with a new and different [...]

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Starting today, the American Immigration Lawyers Association will be providing access to Fastcase for its 11,000 members.  The new benefit includes free acces to Fastcase’s comprehensive federal research system including opinions by the U.S. Supreme Court, federal appellate courts, federal district courts, and federal bankruptcy courts along with Board of Immigration Appeals decisions. In addition, members [...]

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Survey Statutes in Multiple Jurisdictions Fastcase offers a variety of searchable databases to help you find cases and statutes quickly and easily. One of Fastcase’s features is the ability to search statutes across multiple jurisdictions, allowing you to survey a topic across our statutory collection. Example: If you are looking for statutes about how custody relates to [...]

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The National Law Journal is in the midst of collecting votes for their first annual “Best of The National Law Journal” reader’s rankings survey and Fastcase is honored to be among the nominees. Seeking the best vendors throughout the legal industry, the survey is open to all through March 31st, 2012. Whether you’ve made use of the Fastcase [...]

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The Fastcase award-winning mobile legal research application is now synchronized with the Fastcase bar association member benefit along with accounts for law firms and law schools.  Until now, the systems have been separate, so favorites and search history on the phone stayed on the phone while desktop history stayed on the desktop.  Now, with Fastcase [...]

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From time to time, our bar partner sites are available for short periods of time due to maintenance.  However, you can still access Fastcase even if your bar’s login site isn’t available.  Here’s how: 1. Click here. 2. Enter the requested information. 3. When your registration email arrives, click on the link within to activate your account. 4. Go [...]

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I went to see Lyle Lovett last night at the historic Birchmere in Alexandria, Va. And he was awesome. Lovett travels with some phenomenal musicians, and his set list includes some beloved classics.  It’s a terrific show.  But what makes the show for me isn’t the musicians or the playlist – it’s Lyle Lovett’s interactions with his [...]

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The Facebook IPO may be closer than you think. On Monday the Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook, “had not selected bankers to manage what would be a very closely watched IPO. But it had drafted an internal prospectus and was ready at any moment to pull the IPO trigger.” Facebook had discussed [...]

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This year Fastcase was the proud sponsor of the National Association of Bar Executives Luminary awards. The Luminary awards are a way to highlight exceptional communications by bar associations nationwide. Every year the Luminary Awards Committee searches the country for top talent based on the insight and guidance of those working in the [...]

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Fastcase is closed on Friday, November 11th in observation of Veterans Day. We will be back to our normal hours, 8am-8pm EDT, on Monday.

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Here at Fastcase we’re quite pleased with our freshly minted Cloud Printing Suite, but don’t take our word for it. Joshua Ariemma of the legal tech blog Legal Geekery has posted an informed review of the Fastcase Cloud Printing Suite Microsoft Word plug-in that captures both the utility and elegant design of our latest creation. Here [...]

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In my last entry, I discussed a report on law firm finances by Dan DiPietro, of Citibank’s Private Banking Group . While the report was generally positive and even optimistic regarding the stabilization and in some cases increase in law firm revenues since the onset of “the troubles,” it sounded a very serious cautionary [...]

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