Recensioni su Fastcase

A Comprehensive, Affordable, and Powerful Legal Research Tool

Commenti: My overall experience with Fastcase has been nothing short of absolutely fantastic!

Aspetti positivi:

Fastcase provides attorneys and other legal professionals with a comprehensive, affordable, and powerful tool for conducting legal research. Don't make the mistake of thinking the traditional "big players" of the legal research realm are better because they cost more. They're bloated with stuff you don't really need and lock you in with long-term, auto-renewing contracts. Fastcase is a very transparent company that will not disappoint.

Aspetti negativi:

My only con about Fastcase is that statute and rule annotations are not yet available in my State.

Bob' your uncle

Commenti: I do appeals. Factcase works quickly and well

Aspetti positivi:

Anyone who has used the Lawnet will love Fastcase. The features are different but the function is very similar. The search is robust. It finds everything. Another nice feature is it lists the results based on the number of matches in the document. And the Authority Check is wonderful.

Aspetti negativi:

I think that the most relevant paragraph title lies. If there isn't a paragraph with more than one search term hit, then don't select a most relevant paragraph say None.

A free tool to try for Washington Lawyers

Aspetti positivi:

I like that it is an additional service provided to members of the Washington State Bar Association, but it doesn't appear to be any more comprehensive or useful than Casemaker. The search window is very helpful if you don't know boolean commands.

Aspetti negativi:

It just isn't that powerful. I haven't had it find anything useful that I didn't already first find more quickly with another tool.

Good Value and User Friendly

Commenti: This works well for brief writing and pulling statutes.

Aspetti positivi:

The citation cross reference links are super useful.

Aspetti negativi:

Subsequent treatment of law would be a good addition.

Easily Integrated Legal Research App

Commenti: Excellent.

Aspetti positivi:

Very convenient. Fastcase is provided through our Bar Association and we access it through our Bar log in. The natural language search is intuitive and easy to use. The database also has administrative decisions which is something that we need for our research. I always use Fastcase 7 because I find that the UI is much more modern and user friendly.

Aspetti negativi:

Sometimes decisions that should be available are not in the database.

Decent for What You Pay

Commenti: Overall, the program is decent for the price you pay. If you are looking for cheap or free legal research, this will do the job. If you are used to another program, however, this one will seem mediocre at best.

Aspetti positivi:

This product was free with my membership to different bar associations. That is always a plus as legal research programs can get expensive. Further, this program does have quite a few cases listed and the search feature can be handy.

Aspetti negativi:

This program does not function as well and does not have nearly as many features as the more expensive legal research programs. You cannot check the sources for accuracy in the same way that other programs allow for so that really makes it difficult to know whether my research is the best.

Great Legal Research Tool

Aspetti positivi:

This is a very user-friendly legal research database. It has the standard citation, keyword and wildcard search capabilities. You can search across jurisdiction and there is a large library of secondary sources (available at additional cost, of course). It's part of my bar membership, and is a welcome benefit as an alternative to some of the larger, more expensive options.

Aspetti negativi:

Sometimes the searches don't return the number of results it should. It just seems to go a bit wonky, but adding / removing a term definitely helps.

Saves me time and money

Aspetti positivi:

Such a great progam. All the case law I need without the expense of Lexis or Westlaw.

Aspetti negativi:

Nothing. I love Fastcase. No complaints or cons.

Sufficient for case searches

Commenti: Basic state searches are free through my bar discount. I can get a national subscription far cheaper than other search engines. For the price point, it does great.

Aspetti positivi:

It offers basic search tools and does a great job of highlighting bad cases. It is easy to navigate. You can also set up specific alerts to receive email notifications of when a case is cited.

Aspetti negativi:

It doesn't have all of the bells and whistles of other legal search engines, but it gets the job done.

Go to legal research software

Aspetti positivi:

I use this product at least once a week. It is very easy to use. It provides a comprehensive database of case law from around the country. I highly recommend it.

Aspetti negativi:

There is no shepardize feature. Otherwise I haven't found any other issues.

Simple and Effective

Commenti: I access Fastcase through a subscription with my state Bar. At first, I had a difficult time using Fastcase because I learned how to use LexisNexis and Westlaw. Fastcase is pretty basic, so I had to unlearn the labyrinth of options and features that Westlaw and LexisNexis have. After getting over a rather stumped learning curve and using Fastcase for about 20 minutes, it has been easy to use. It's easy to access, easy to use, and the viewing and print options are easy. The updating functionality is less sophisticated than the competitors, but it serves my purposes. I'm not building multi-state or complicated arguments, and my focus on North Carolina statutes and case law. Fastlaw is not a Cadillac program, but I don't need a Cadillac. It's basic and dependable and it gives me the information I need quickly without trying to sell me a bunch of add-ons.

Aspetti positivi:

Straightforward user interface and search function. With other products, I feel like basic information about how to search gets lost in bright colors and hidden behind other features being pushed. The Fastcase I use is just a search engine, plain and simple. It provides relevant results and a few features for authority checking. My FAVORITE feature links case law to statutory research. This streamlines a lot of my research since I typically enter my search from the statute, then update through case law research.

Aspetti negativi:

It is barebones, so the functions of other major law research companies (like Westlaw or LexisNexis) are lacking. But Westlaw and LexisNexis are also expensive, and I don't use those added features from the big companies enough to justify those costs. This isn't something I dislike, so much as it is something that makes Fastcase more attractive. It fits a practice that doesn't rely on intensive research.

A Barrister Bargain

Commenti: As a solo practitioner, cost of doing business is always a critical factor. There is no disadvantage to using this Fastcase instead of the other cost prohibitive research software of the "big publishers." I can say that I have never been "caught short" by missing a citation or case when I have used Fastcase and tools like "authority check" have been very persuasive in the courtroom

Aspetti positivi:

This search engine allows the lawyer to conduct queries in a number of different ways: citations, words and phrases, and plain language. The results can be saved in several formats and copies of search results can be mailed to others working on the same project. Most importantly, Fastcase is a FREE benefit of the Wisconsin State Bar. Better yet any case can be given an "authority check" which shows graphically how the case has been by other courts that have cited it. This is much stronger than a simple "shepardizing" to see if the case is still valid.

Aspetti negativi:

Often, Fastcase will refer to other authorities like learned treatises, periodicals, journals and the like. These are sometimes at extra cost. I simple wish this feature was integrated into the software without additional cost.

Good alternative to the pricey options

Commenti: Fastcase gives my small firm access to all cases and statutes (more than we really need) at an excellent value. As a small business owner, it is critical to keep my monthly overhead low, and this product delivers. They do continue to improve, adding new features and upgrades, to keep their product relevant and at the leading edge of technology.

Aspetti positivi:

I like that Fastcase makes it very easy to locate, read, quote with citation, and save research. It allows you to search for cases by name/citation, and has annotated statutes, which is really useful. It is less robust than the pricier options available, but the value for this product is excellent as it has keyword(Boolean), natural language and citation look up options. In family law, going to the annotated statutes is a great jumping off point to find the cases that address your client's specific issues. You can save your research by downloading, emailing or printing very easily.

Aspetti negativi:

It is less robust than some other products, but for primary source research (case law and statutes) it is really great and covers all state and federal courts.

Old Lawyer New Tricks

Commenti: My practice is primarily criminal defense. Fastcase gives me what I need in order to prepare for trial and I can always rely on it to be complete and up to date.

Aspetti positivi:

I have used Fastcase for my legal research for years. It is provided to Virginia attorneys "free" as part of our bar dues. I have been in practice for 40 years and I have seen the evolution of legal research from running around a law library to today's marvelous point and click research. To me Fastcase is a bargain and is comparable to the other expensive legal research platforms.

Aspetti negativi:

Fastcase was revamped this fall and I find the user interface easier and more productive than ever, now that I am used to it. I have no complaints.

How I Learned to Love Fastcase

Commenti: My overall experience is I have found Fastcase to be a reliable and up to date legal research tool.

Aspetti positivi:

I have used Fastcase for years for my legal practice and subscribed to recent upgrades for case notifications. The comprehensive national research base separates the software from much more expensive commercial sites with no $ signs popping up for case research.

Aspetti negativi:

My first impression of the updated format for research was too complicated and difficult. With a little trial and error, I am now navigating Fastcase with ease.

Fastcase gives solo attorneys the best bang for the buck.

Aspetti positivi:

I like Fastcases' citation checker feature. The software gives clear case mapping, allowing the user to determine whether a case is still good law.

Aspetti negativi:

The statute look-up feature is a bit cumbersome. It takes multiple steps to find previous versions of statutes, rather than intuitively linking to the appropriate version.

Excellent reach tool

Aspetti positivi:

This tool is the best computer research tool that I have use over many years. There are so many features and I am a senior lawyer so it is difficult for me to do more than basic non complex research. Younger lawyers more adept at using computers would find fastcase a pleasure to use, however for me sometimes it is a hurdle. I do however frequently recommend this to attorney who have used the more well know and longer stand research companies

Aspetti negativi:

The difficulty for me to learn all of its attributes.

User Friendly

Commenti: Fastcase is a great resource for legal professionals looking for easy sources to find good case material.

Aspetti positivi:

I liked that Fastcase was very easy to use. Many Paralegal programs focus on Westlaw and LexisNexis for case searches. I found Fastcase to be just as useful and easy.

Aspetti negativi:

I did not have anything with Fastcase that I did not like.

Value proposition

Aspetti positivi:

I am a California lawyer. Fastcase is a free member benefit after becoming a member of the California Lawyers Association. So for less than $10 per month, I have a subscription giving me full access to all of Fastcase (this includes CA cases and all states and Federal law as well.) There is no better value - this saves me over I have found.

Aspetti negativi:

Like any new software, there is a learning curve. So prepare to be patient when starting.

Better Value Than Competitiors

Commenti: I have been very pleased with Fastcase and I appreciate that there are multiple jurisdictions available for search.

Aspetti positivi:

While I think this product could provide access to more articles and research, it by far exceeds the competition from a cost perspective.

Aspetti negativi:

The would like to see a filter with subject content to choose from to help narrow searches down further.

Terrific enhancements

Commenti: I use the software to do research for my divorce litigation cases.

Aspetti positivi:

I have been using this software for several years. Especially in the past year, the enhancements made to Fastcase have been astounding. It is now much more powerful than previously, and much more intuitive.

Aspetti negativi:

The feature "more like this" I find very helpful, but it doesn't exist on Fastcase. You find a phrase or sentence that is on point, and you press a button "more like this," and the application takes you to cases which express the same point. Very powerful, and would be helpful to have on Fastcase.

Review of Fastcase

Commenti: It allows me to do legal research to help my clients.

Aspetti positivi:

It has a lot of cases that are easy to find.

Aspetti negativi:

It doesn't have a perfect Shepardizing method, but it's method is useful. It also does not have all the official reported pages in some of the cases, particularly some older cases.

Extremely valuable resource

Aspetti positivi:

This software is extremely affordable compared to Lexis and Westlaw. While those sites may offer access to more databases, I don't need access to those databases. Fastcase has access to all relevant legal databases including nationwide court cases and statutes.

Aspetti negativi:

Logging in takes me three steps, because I access it from another site, but otherwise, no gripes.

FC

Commenti: FastCase is so much more reasonably priced for what I need for my small firm.

Aspetti positivi:

It was very easy to use prior to the upgrades, I think I will really like the upgrades once I learn how to use them.

Aspetti negativi:

Learning how to use the new upgrades to Fast Case.

Good Legal Research Software

Commenti: Overall, Fastcase has been beneficial in my law practice as a research tool.

Aspetti positivi:

The software is easy to use and can be personalized based on jurisdiction, if needed.

Aspetti negativi:

I have noticed that after having selected my jurisdiction when searching, it sometimes allows caselaw and research from other jurisdictions to be included. I'm not sure why this happens but it doesn't minimize the overall usefulness of the software.