Justia Connect Webinars Free Law: Resources, Technology & Legal Issues (Past, Present & Future)

Free Law: Resources, Technology & Legal Issues (Past, Present & Future)

Want to take advantage of legal research solutions and resources without breaking the bank? Join us for a webinar on Free Law.

In addition to the best places to find free law, Tim will cover legal issues, including copyright, privacy, and public access.

Tim will cover the history, technology, and legal issues of organizations that provide free legal resources to the public. He will examine the beginnings of the Free Law movement by the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School in the early 1990s, before the existence of the World Wide Web, and how LII and the Web led to a movement of educational and other organizations providing free access to the laws of nations worldwide.

Tim will examine legal issues such as copyright, privacy, and public access that have changed how millions have accessed the law. He will review litigation and court decisions that have transformed the free law movement, including the HyperLaw and Public Resource cases. Tim will also investigate legal issues involving training AI with court records and government documents and the implications these issues might have for legal research and AI in general.

Tim will also present the best places to find free law online throughout the webinar, including Federal and US state, educational, and organization websites.

Topics covered include:

Legal Research Law Practice

Agenda:

Free Law Overview & History

An overview of the free law movement, from its beginnings with the Legal Information Institute to other educational institutions, non-profits, and for-profit companies worldwide
How free law organizations are providing public access, as well as the barriers to providing such access
What organizations and governments can do going forward to provide more public access to the law

Legal Issues, Copyright, Privacy and Public Access

Legal issues and litigation on access to public documents in the policy arena and courts, including copyright and intellectual property litigation and privacy and public access policy issues

Free Law & AI, Resources

How artificial intelligence impacts legal resources and free law
The best places online to find free legal resources for codes, regulations, cases, and other legal materials

Questions & Answers

Duration of this webinar: 60 minutes

Originally broadcast: January 26, 2024 11:00 AM PT

Webinar Highlights

This webinar is divided into section summaries, which you can scan for key points and then dive into the sections that interest you the most.

00:00 Introduction

Tim Stanley, CEO and founder of Justia, is introduced as the speaker, with a background in legal portals and various board memberships. Tim's presentation will cover the free law movement, legal issues, and technical challenges in making legal information accessible. He plans to discuss historical context, key figures in the movement, and the impact of copyright and privacy issues. Tim will also explore the role of AI in utilizing government information for training models and applications. The presentation will conclude with a review of resources and organizations involved in the free law movement.

04:53 Historical Context and Development of Free Law

Tim discusses the historical shift from using books to online legal resources, highlighting the impact of Lexis and Westlaw. He explains the legislative, executive, and judicial branches' roles in creating laws, regulations, and judicial opinions. Tim notes the importance of accessing codes and regulations for non-lawyers, such as building contractors. He mentions the availability of legal documents from federal and state courts, including oral arguments and PACER filings. Tim addresses the lack of standardization in legal data across states, requiring manual work to compile and update information. He acknowledges the efforts of law schools and nonprofits in providing online legal resources, despite challenges in coordination.

16:35 Legal Information Institutes and Free Law Projects

Tim highlights the role of the Legal Information Institute (LII) at Cornell in pioneering free online legal resources. He discusses the international expansion of LIIs and their impact on global access to legal information. Tim acknowledges the contributions of Tom Bruce and Peter Martin in establishing LII and promoting free law initiatives. He notes the involvement of students and the development of legal dictionaries and AI projects at LII. Tim mentions other law school initiatives, such as case law projects and open journal access, contributing to free law efforts. He describes the Free Law Project's role in increasing access to legal materials and promoting transparency. Tim emphasizes the importance of collaboration among free law organizations to enhance accessibility and standardization.

41:13 Legal Issues and Copyright Challenges

Tim discusses the challenges of copyright in the free law movement, citing historical cases like West v. Lexis. He explains the significance of the Hyperlaw case in challenging West's copyright claims on page numbers and case selection. Tim highlights the Georgia v. Public Resource case, where the Supreme Court ruled in favor of free access to annotated codes. He notes the ongoing efforts to make private standards and codes publicly accessible, especially those affecting public safety. Tim mentions the Indigo Book initiative as an alternative to the Blue Book for legal citations. He discusses the implications of the White v. Thomson case, where briefs were deemed usable by Westlaw and Lexis. Tim emphasizes the need for continued litigation and advocacy to ensure free access to legal information.

01:05:32 Privacy Concerns and Data Accessibility

Tim addresses privacy concerns related to online legal documents, highlighting the risks of exposing sensitive information. He discusses the role of Aaron Schwartz in the free information movement and the subsequent privacy issues with PACER documents. Tim emphasizes the importance of redacting personally identifiable information to protect individuals' privacy. He notes the differences in privacy standards between the U.S. and the European Union, with the latter being stricter. Tim describes efforts to remove sensitive information from search engines to prevent harm to individuals. He highlights the challenges of ensuring accurate and up-to-date legal information online, using the Mississippi code as an example. Tim stresses the need for annotated codes to provide clarity and prevent misunderstandings of the law.

01:13:34 AI in Legal Research and Data Use

Tim explores the use of AI in legal research, emphasizing the importance of verifying AI-generated information. He discusses the major players in AI development, including OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and Meta. Tim highlights the potential of AI to improve legal research by processing and summarizing large amounts of data. He warns against relying solely on AI for legal work, stressing the need for human oversight and prompt engineering. Tim notes the availability of government documents for training AI models, despite challenges with data accuracy. He discusses the implications of using private filings and copyrighted materials in AI training. Tim emphasizes the need for careful consideration of privacy and copyright issues in AI applications.

01:25:53 Resources and Conclusion

Tim concludes by summarizing the main free law resources available, including LII, FindLaw, and Casetext. He highlights the role of Fastcase in providing legal information through bar associations and its partnership with VL. Tim mentions the availability of docket resources and the comprehensive offerings of Court Listener and Unicourt. He emphasizes the importance of free law initiatives in reducing costs for attorneys and improving access to legal information. Tim encourages participants to utilize Justia's Daily Opinion Summaries for timely case updates.

Please note this AI-generated summary provides a general overview of the webinar but may not capture all details, nuances, or the exact words of the speaker. For complete accuracy, please refer to the original webinar recording.

Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Credits

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California CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.00 General

Earn Credit Until: January 25, 2026

South Carolina CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.00 General

Difficulty: All Levels

Earn Credit Until: December 31, 2025

North Carolina CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.00 General

Earn Credit Until: February 28, 2026

Texas CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.00 General

Earn Credit Until: December 31, 2025

This presentation is approved for one hour of General CLE credit in California, South Carolina (all levels), and North Carolina. This course has been approved for Minimum Continuing Legal Education credit by the State Bar of Texas Committee on MCLE in the amount of 1.00 credit hours.

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Speaker

Tim Stanley CEO
Justia

Tim Stanley is the CEO and founder of Justia, one of the most visited legal portals in the world. Justia’s mission is to make law and legal resources free for all. Before founding Justia, Tim founded and was CEO of FindLaw. He is the general counsel and on the Board of Trustees of Public.Resource.Org, and was previously on the Board of Nolo and American LegalNet. Tim has a BS and MS from Stanford University and a JD from the University of Michigan Law School.