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Fastcase

  • June 5, 2014 | Practice News | Member Services
    For Illinois legislation, Fastcase just got faster

    Beginning with public acts from the spring legislative session, Fastcase is updating its version of Illinois Compiled Statutes in real time. In other words, as soon as the governor signs a bill into law, Fastcase updates its version of the ILCS to reflect the new act. “That way you’re always looking at the most up-to-date version of statutes,” says Fastcase CEO Ed Walters.

    As a Fastcase user, you’ll be seeing red – in a good way. When an ILCS provision is affected by a new act, Fastcase includes a notice in red font on the top of the page. They also underline the new language and set it off in red.

    Fastcase is free to ISBA members. If you haven't already done so, click on the Fastcase icon on the upper right of the ISBA homepage and take it for a test drive.

  • January 23, 2014 | ISBA News
    ISBA network to be down evening of Friday, Jan. 24 - here's how to access Fastcase

    All ISBA systems will be down for equipment upgrades beginning at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, January 24, until about 8 p.m. that night. During this downtime the ISBA website and email lists will not be available. You will also not be able to log into Fastcase or FastCLE. If you will need to access Fastcase during this time, please follow the instructions below.

  • October 3, 2013 | Member Services | Practice News
    Spot negative citation history with “Bad Law Bot”

    Fastcase has enhanced its Authority Check feature to show you where courts have noted that a case has been treated negatively (i.e., reversed or overruled on any grounds). The new feature, "Bad Law Bot," uses algorithms to find negative citation history.  Bad Law Bot then flags those cases that have negative citation history and provides you with the links to those cases.  Keep in mind that Bad Law Bot is not intended to be a complete replacement for a full editorial citator or for reading all later-citing cases. A red flag means that there's likely negative treatment, since a court has said as much by their use of a negative citation, but no red flag does not necessarily mean that a case is still good law. If a case has been overturned but no court opinion has cited to it yet, Bad Law Bot won't be able to find any citation signal information.

    Bad Law Bot is a part of Fastcase’s Authority Check, which means it’s free to you as a member of the Illinois State Bar Association.  For more information, visit www.fastcase.com/badlawbot.

  • May 14, 2012
    'Welcome to the rest of your life'

    "[T]his may not be the job market you anticipated," Fastcase CEO Ed Walters told University of Illinois law grads last Saturday, "but it may well create the unexpected opportunity, an opportunity that you may otherwise have missed, that makes your career."

    Walters, commencement speaker for the class of 2012, knows something about finding success by way of the path less traveled. "The shortest distance between you and your goals is rarely a straight line," he said. "It’s a little like driving across the mountains: the fastest way usually isn’t a straight line across the map. You don’t control the terrain.  And the path usually takes you on a few turns in the opposite direction along the way.

    "This job market is full of mountains and obstacles. Your path across them may be different from the one you charted. But openness, flexibility, and hard work will get you there."

    Read Ed's thoughtful and wide-ranging speech, which is about living, not just making a living, and has sound advice for newly minted and veteran lawyers alike.

  • March 5, 2012 | Member Services | Practice News
    Fastcase app now links to your ISBA member account

    As many ISBA-member iPhone and iPad users know, Fastcase was early out of the gate with a legal research app. Members told us that while they loved it, they'd love it even more if it linked to their ISBA Fastcase benefit desktop account. That way they could print, access their search histories, and contact Fastcase reference attorneys and technical support.

    Fastcase told us some months ago that a connection like that was coming, and now it's here under the moniker "Mobile Sync."

    Mobile Sync automatically syncs to your activity history and saved favorites on any of the Fastcase applications, so no work is ever lost. When you log in through your ISBA account, you see the favorites you saved on you iPhone or iPad. Searches performed on your desktop can be continued from anywhere using your iPhone or iPad, picking up right where you left off.

    Fastcase posts instructions for setting up Mobile Sync. ISBA members log into Fastcase using the icon on the upper right at our website.

  • October 26, 2011 | ISBA News | Events
    Fastcase programs to kick off Solo and Small Firm Conference

    Ed Walters, CEO of Fastcase, will kick off the Illinois State Bar Association's Solo and Small Firm Conference on Thursday morning with "Fastcase: Introduction to Legal Research Training." Walters will take continue after that program with "Fastcase: Advanced Legal Research Training 10:15 a.m. – 11:15 a.m."

    Conference registration is now available on-site only.

    Visit the Conference website for information about the Registration Pricing, Meal/Social Functions, and more.

    Both of these programs provide 1.0 hour MCLE credit, including 1.0 hour approved

  • September 12, 2011 | Member Services
    Advanced Legal Research on Fastcase -- free webinar

    Looking to improve your Fastcase online legal research skills? Join us for the FREE webinar - Advanced Legal Research on Fastcase - on Wednesday, Sept. 21 from noon to 1:00 p.m. (Central) and learn how. (Please note: This course is free but only available to ISBA Members.) To register visit https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/959774296

    Fastcase is ISBA's absolutely-free online legal research tool, brought to you by ISBA Mutual Insurance Company. To learn more, visit http://www.isba.org/fastcase.

  • January 29, 2010 | Member Services
    Fastcase releases first legal research app for iPhone
    Legal publisher Fastcase announced today the release of the world's first mobile legal research app, now available for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch for free from Apple's App Store. Fastcase is available for free to all Illinois State Bar Association members. Fastcase is the largest law library on the iPhone, with free download of the app, and free searching of Fastcase's comprehensive national law library of cases and statutes. The app uses the same next-generation legal research engine as Fastcase's acclaimed Web-based platform. Fastcase for the iPhone users can search the comprehensive Fastcase legal research database with keyword (or "Boolean") search in addition to citation lookup for cases and statutes. The app also supports "browsing" statutes in outline view. "The future of legal research is mobile devices - ubiquitous computing and access anywhere." said Ed Walters, CEO of Fastcase. "The mobile platform is what's next for legal research, and Fastcase is going to be a major player in this emerging market." Experts agree that this is an important development. Legal blogger Robert Ambrogi says "I was impressed. The app is easy to use and produces lightning-fast results. . . . For legal research on the go, at any time, and for zero cost, this is a must-have for any lawyer with an iPhone." (review: http://bit.ly/9YlQTB) Law professor James B.
  • November 16, 2009 | Member Services
    Learn how to use Fastcase
    Save money by using Fastcase -- ISBA's FREE online legal research member benefit brought to you by the ISBA and ISBA Mutual Insurance Company - with unlimited access to a 50 state and federal caselaw library, including Illinois statutes and Illinois-based federal district court cases. Learn how to use Fastcase to supplement or replace your current online legal research tool by accessing our downloadable User Guide, Online Training Demonstration, or by signing up for a free Webinar. The next Webinar -- Conducting Legal Research on Fastcase -- takes place Thursday, Dec.
  • July 13, 2009 | Practice News
    Advantage, Fastcase
    In a recent column for the Law Technology News, veteran lawyer and legal-tech writer Bob Ambrogi compared the two leading bar-sponsored legal research services, Fastcase and Casemaker. As he notes, Casemaker partners with 28 bars representing 475,000 lawyers, while Fastcase is offered by 17 state and other bars -- including the Illinois State Bar Association -- representing 380,000 lawyers. His conclusion? "[B]oth are worthwhile services with many similarities. In the coverage of federal and state libraries and the relative strengths of their search tools, neither stands out as significantly superior to the other. But in their intuitiveness and ease of use, Fastcase has the clear edge." Read his review.