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The Internet & The Practice Of Law: Ready Or Not, Here It Comes

This article was edited and reviewed by FindLaw Attorney Writers | Last reviewed March 26, 2008

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About four years ago, a client ex-tolled the joys of "surfing" the Internet. My response was, "What is the Internet?" Her explanation of "It's a bunch of computers hooked together through various phone lines," was not particularly helpful. But, being one ready to investigate the latest in computer ware, I signed up for the Internet. I remember initially poking around and trying to figure out how to "find" something. It was slow, cumbersome and, frankly, I couldn't find anything particularly of interest. So, it lost its novelty and gathered dust, and I continued to trudge to the law library and rely on my trusty word processor.

One day after the dust was sufficiently thick, I just happened to be watching my sister as she logged onto the Internet and ran a search query for some census data. I was dumbfounded. So that's what that "search" button with the flashlight is! With that one glimpse into what it really meant to "surf" the Internet, I was launched onto the adventure. Now I can't imagine "practicing law" without being able to hop onto the Internet once or twice a day to find information, send an e-mail, located some caselaw, get the lowdown on an opposing party, search for an expert or do any of a myriad of things that were unimaginable years ago.

There seem to be two schools of thought on the use of the Internet in the practice of law: (1) stare decisis, i.e., we've done without the Internet for hundreds of years, and we don't need it now; or (2) it's an invaluable tool. For those of you in the first category, perhaps the list of resources below will pique your interest. For those of you in the second category, you may already know all this, but perhaps the information will give you additional ideas and sites for using the Internet more effectively in your practice.

Ready or not, here it comes
The 1998 Small & Large Law Firm Technology Survey conducted by the ABA found that more and more attorneys are using the Internet as a marketing tool. Fifty eight percent of the large firms reported having a firm home page, up 8 percent from 1997. Eleven percent of small firms reported having a firm home page. Ninety-nine percent of the large firms and 80 percent of the small firms reported providing full Internet access to at least some members of the firm.

The survey reflected a reticence to communicate via the Internet because of privacy and confidentiality issues. Sixty percent of large firms and 75 percent of large firms chose not to transmit sensitive information via the Internet. Those firms that do use the Internet for sensitive information use encryption software or client releases and waivers to help preserve confidentiality and create awareness of this problem.

Getting started
There are a number of Internet service providers ("ISPs"). All one needs to do is open the Yellow Pages to "Internet" to find an abundant selection. Many attorneys use AOL, which has a very "user friendly" interface and higher security protocols. The interface to the Internet is much more enjoyable and quicker — translate "profitable" — if you have a fast modem. The fastest modem now on the market is 56.6 kbps (kilobytes per second); of course although you have a fast modem, the transmissions will only be as fast as the modem on the other end, hence the transfer rate usually is lower than 56 kbps. The going rate for a single-user service is $19.95. Make sure you are getting a flat fee and that there are no hidden charges. Some services add more for e-mail and downloading, so be careful.

If you really want to enjoy the Internet, I strongly recommend getting a cable modem hook-up through your local cable provider. In Las Vegas, the provider is Cox Communications. Normal modems range from 28,800 kbps to 56,000 kbps. But with a cable modem, transmission is almost instantaneous, starting at 512 kbps — yes, 10 times faster than the fastest modem. The cable modem is more expensive than the going rate for an Internet service; for residential use, it starts at $50 per month. For a business, the service is even more expensive. The cable modem hook-up is much more stable, and there is no problem with dialing in, waiting to log in and getting bogged down if there are too many users on the line. Instead, it is like opening any program; you open the browser and have immediate access to the Internet. Besides, surfing the Net is much more enjoyable if you are actually surfing, as opposed to slogging with a slow modem hook-up.

Although not available yet, the next step up for faster access is ADSL. When it is up and running, ADSL lines will permit access to the Internet at speeds up to 8 megabits per second — yes, even much faster than the cable modem. I spoke with one provider who advised me that it was hoping to have ADSL access by mid-summer. Like the cable modem connections, the ADSL service will start at about $50 per month. Check out Powernet or your local phone provider later this summer to see if the PUC has convinced the local telephone companies that they should share.

Browsers and search engines
There are two major Internet browsers designed to access information on the Internet — Microsoft's Internet Explorer ("IE") and Netscape. On either program, there is a button on the top row of the initial screen that says "search." To search for something on the Internet, click on the "search" button. You will then see another screen which has a field in which you can enter the topic you want to search, then click on the "search" button, and the browser will formulate a query and begin to search the Internet for information responsive to your request. Next, there will appear on your screen descriptions of Internet sites that may be responsive to your request; you simply "click" on the site with the description that matches your query and it wall take you directly to the site. If you want to check other sites, use the "back" button to return to the list of relevant sites.

Additionally, once you go into the sites, you may find a section called "links" where there are links to other sites. Simply click on the name of the linked site, and you will be taken to the other site . . . you are now off and surfing the Internet.

If you know the address of the Internet site you want to go to, you do not need to search for it. On IE, there is a field on the top of the screen labeled "address;" on Netscape, the field is labeled "location." If you know the address of the Internet site you want to go to (hint: it will start with "http://"), you can type in the "address" of the site in the address/location field and the browser will take you directly to the site.

There are a number of search engines on the Internet. Moreover, you can use the same query on each different browser and get different responses. So, if your query does not work in one search engine, try another. The top search engines can all be accessed from http://www.nevadaindex.com/3top.htm.

  • General Searches: For a general search of the Internet, I use Excite at http://www.excite.com or Yahoo at http://www.yahoo.com.
  • In-depth Searches: If I am looking for some specific information, that is more difficult to find I usually use HotBot. In HotBot, you can search on all the words, an exact phrase, words in the title, or formulate a Boolean search, i.e., a Westlaw-type search. Just type in the query and the box below the query box has a drop-down menu for you to specify the search perimeters.
  • Finding People: It is still difficult to find people using the Internet. But, perhaps the best site to locate people is the Ultimate White Pages. This site searches all the major White Pages sites on the Internet simultaneously.
  • Finding Lawyers: http://lawyers.martindale.com/marhub/form/attorney.html is the Martindale Hubbell site. It allows you to search for a specific attorney or find an attorney in a certain practice area in a certain location.


Legal research
There are various sources of case law available on the Internet. Of course, there are LEXIS and Westlaw, however those sites are a bit pricey. One alternative is Versus Law (http://www.versuslaw.com/). Versus Law charges $6.95 per month per attorney, however, it simply pulls up the cases that are responsive to your query; it does not show you the responsive portion of the case. This type of response is workable if you download all the responsive cases and then use another search engine such as DT Search [http://www.DTSearch.com] to use Boolean searches to locate the sections of the cases, which are responsive to your query.

FindLaw[https://www.findlaw.com/] is helpful and an excellent location to find a statute or specific case. The problem with Findlaw, however, is that a lot of the cases available only date back to 1995. For links to all state resources on Findlaw, go to https://www.findlaw.com/11stategov/index.html. [Editor's Note: Since publication, FindLaw has gone live with an on-line research law library containing articles from national law publications and journals, including Nevada Lawyer.]

The major problem with the Internet based-non Westlaw/LEXIS research is determining (1) whether the case was published; and (2) the West citation to the case. Unless you know the case name and the court, and it has been published within the last three years, Internet legal research still has some kinks to work out and is still rather cumbersome. Recently, the ABA adopted a resolution requesting that courts utilize a uniform citation method to solve this problem of having to find the West citation to cases on public sites. See http://www.abanet.org/citation/resolution.html#report.

Westlaw runs Westdoc [http://www.westdoc.com/]; it allows you to print or download a specific case for a flat fee of $8. If you know what you are looking for, it's actually a good way to get cases and keep the costs of legal research to a minimum. See also:


Digging deeper
It is always helpful to do some research on your opponent. Through the Internet you can do this with ease. For example, you can locate extensive financial information on publicly traded corporations on http://www.freeedgar.com/. The Nevada Secretary of State is now on-line. You can find a registered agent for service of process painlessly without waiting on the phone forever at http://www.sos.state.nv.us. For business litigation, it is a valuable resource.

Or, for example, if you have a case involving pharmaceuticals, you can check out the various government regulations of the drug on the Food & Drug Administration's site at http://www.fda.gov/. For instance, if you go to the FDA's site and run a search on "Viagra," you will be able to download study information, consumer information or adverse reaction reports from post- marketing experiences. Additionally, the FDA site has a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reading room at http://www.fda.gov/foi/electrr.htm.

There is an absolute goldmine available on some federal government sites. A good link to all the various government sites is the Federal Web Locator at http://www.infoctr.edu/fwl/. See also: https://www.findlaw.com/10fedgov/index.html Sites, http://www.embajadaeeuu.cl/usglinks.htm; http://www-lib.ipfw.indiana.edu/pirs/fed/Major-Gov-WWW.html; or http://ink2.ink.org/public/links/usgovt.html.

Don't forget those FOIA requests. Usually, each government site tells you where to write to submit a FOIA request. For information on the FOIA process and lists of the major FOIA officers for each governmental agency, see http://www.usdoj.gov/foia/. In digging deeper with FOIA requests, you are limited only by your imagination and tenacity — moreover, you would be surprised at what you can find buried in those federal filing cabinets!

Additionally, patent, trademark and copyright information is now readily available on the Internet. See e.g., U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: http://www.uspto.gov/. To perform a search of the patent database, go to http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html. There are other sites from which you can search for patents, but they charge a fee. A for instance is Patent Explorer™ at http://www.patentexplorer.com/. Information on copyrights is available at http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/.

Note that many of the forms and documents on the federal sites are in "PDF" format. Usually, the site will provide you with a link to Adobe Acrobat, a PDF viewer. This program is free and allows you to view the downloaded documents.

For many attorneys involved in tort litigation, there often are medical issues involved. The Internet provides ample resources to research a wide variety of medical conditions, causes, symptomatology and prognoses. The American Medical Association's site (http://www.ama-assn.org/physinfo/library/links/medref.htm) provides links to "Condition & Illness Related Resources," for example, the Alzheimer's Association, the American Cancer Cancer Society and 78 other illness-related sites. See also "Medical Indices & Lists" including "My Virtual Encyclopedia: Health & Medicine" (http://www.refdesk.com/health.html) and the WebDoctor, which bills itself as the "Internet Navigator for Physicians"(http://www.gretmar.com/webdoctor/home.html). It also includes links to "U.S. Government Sites: Medical" (http://www.ama-assn.org/med_link/wgovern.htm) such as the Food & Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control, etc.

For those of you who deal with personal injury cases and the perpetual fight over and valuation of car, check out the on-line Kelly Blue Book at http://www.kbb.com/.

Professional resources
There are a variety of professional organizations on the Internet that have "chat" rooms or "bulletin" boards where you can share ideas with other practitioners. Also, some sites have briefs you can download. For example:


Local courts and government sites
The following are sites available from the various courts and local government in the state, or associated with Nevada:


Locating Experts
There are a variety of sites on the Internet that you can use to locate potential experts. These include:


Marketing
If you are contemplating designing your own Web page, you should consider Visual Page by Symantec ($60 — see http://www.shopper.com). Although there are many fans of Microsoft's Front Page ($100), thanks to Bill Gates, if you use Front Page to design your Web site and someone uses Netscape (Microsoft's chief competitor in the Internet wars) to view your Web site, the site will appear different than designed. So, if you want your site to look impressive for all viewers, you might want to avoid Front Page.

For those of you who want to develop a Web site, but equate doing so with having your fingernails pulled out, one alternative is Lawyer HomePages™ offered through Martindale Hubbell. See http://www.martindalehubbell.com/locator/lhp.html. This service is available only to attorneys who maintain a listing through Martindale Hubbell, and is based upon the lawyer building his or her own site using Page Designer software. For a firm of one to two attorneys, the cost is $195 per year; for three to five attorneys, the cost is $295 per year. If you want Martindale Hubbell to design your site, that is also available for $300. For more information, see http://www.lawyers.com/fag/pricing.htm. Martindale Hubbell also has a service available for large firms that want a custom site; see http://www.martindale.com/locator/custom_web.html for more information.

Also, Kenneth Johnson has written a book, " The Lawyer's Guide to Creating Web Pages," which can be ordered at http://www.abanet.org/lpm/catalog/511-0383.html.

Conclusion
Like the Internet, one could go on and on about the resources available. Suffice to say, the resources are phenomenal, and growing and changing by the day. The only way to really get onto the Internet, and learn to utilize it in your practice, is — like swimming — to simply jump in and paddle around a bit. So . . . jump in and surf.


Janet C. Pancoast practices in the areas of employment, tort and business litigation with the firm of Gage & Gage, L.L.P.
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