Legal Research News and Information with an Emphasis on Wisconsin
“Attorneys and the public can also freely access appellate briefs online” reports the Wisconsin Law Journal in an article on status of the new electronic filing system for Wisconsin’s appellate courts. While [Wisconsin Supreme Court Clerk of Court David R.] Schanker conceded that the new rules are designed to be more “user-friendly” for judges, he …
From the U.S. Courts Newsroom: A recent publication discusses the importance of federal judges’ papers as a documentary record of their careers and the work of the federal courts. A Guide to the Preservation of Federal Judges’ Papers was first published in 1996 and has proved to be one of the most frequently requested publications …
Wisconsin Assembly Bill 340, introduced yesterday, could mean some big changes for CCAP. The bill would limit what information is made accessible and when, and it would require many users to register and pay an annual fee. From the LRB analysis section of the bill: The information on CCAP is available for free on an …
In response to numerous questions, FreeCourtDockets answers the question “Who are we and why are we giving away Pacer dockets for free?” From an email that I received yesterday: FreeCourtDockets is maintained by Courtport, LLC. We feel federal court dockets, like other public records should be free and freely available via the Internet. While others …
Beginning today, July 1, 2009, Wisconsin attorneys must electronically file a copy of all appellate briefs, no-merit reports, petitions for review, and responses. For more on these requirements, see Mandatory appellate e-filing begins July 1, 2009 in InsideTrack from the State Bar of Wisconsin. One thing that the article doesn’t mention is that attorneys may …
The Wisconsin Law Journal reports that furloughs for more than 570 non-judicial staff of the Wisconsin court system are on the horizon, but how they will be implemented is yet to be determined. From the article: On June 23, Gov. Jim Doyle signed an executive order which calls for employees of state agencies and the …
FreeCourtDockets is a new, free service which allows anyone to retrieve federal civil, criminal, and bankruptcy court dockets, as well as dockets from the US Supreme Court, Court of Claims, and Court of International Trade. The site is the product of Courtport LLC. No PACER account is required to view the dockets, but if you …
From the Wisconsin Law Journal: July 1 will be a landmark day in Wisconsin legal history. Starting that day, attorneys will be allowed to cite some unpublished Court of Appeals’ opinions. Unpublished but authored opinions issued on July 1 or after can be cited for persuasive, but not precedential, authority. Per curiam opinions and summary …
Erika Wayne of Stanford Law School has spearheaded a petition to improve PACER and make it more widely available. The PACER service provides on-line access to U.S. Appellate, District, and Bankruptcy court records and documents nationwide. The petition reads: We ask the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to improve PACER by enhancing the authenticity, …
The Third Branch newsletter from the Wisconsin court system has several interesting articles: Committee to study impact of allowing unpublished opinion cites Courts welcome 13 new judges; four incumbents re-elected over challenger