Legal Tech Mergers continue despite the uncertain economy. The recent acquisitions of Fastcase and Casetext inspired me to “take the temperature” of legal information marketplace. Thomson Reuters acquisition of Casetext for the breathtaking $650M was completed on August 17, 2023

The Survey I gave information professionals the opportunity to provide feedback on legal information mergers

As fall associates settle into the reality of legal practice, I am taking the opportunity to share a variety of research “best practices.” These rules can be applied across all environments: law firm, corporate, public service and government. New associates are facing the messy reality of needing to harness legal and factual issues that need

It will come as no surprise that the roster of legal publishing and tech innovator offerings of Covid-19 resources continues to grow. Fastcase, PacerPro, PubK Law and Tax Notes have new Covid-19 resources.Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg Law mentioned in an earlier post now have added free resources which out from behind the paywall.Well Fastcase has gone “Amazon” – they have basically built a Covid-19 Shopping Mall which includes a gallery of their own resources, affiliates resources, government resources and competitors resources – all for a good cause!

Federal Legislative Response to Coronavirus
Thomson Reuters Skopos Labs

Bloomberg Law has brought their very popular In Focus Covid-19 page out from behind the paywall. There are  3 “trackers ” which provide a survey of  court operations during Covid-19, state quarantine and public health laws and Covid-19 related labor laws.The page also provides, news, analysis, regulatory guidance e.g .reporting Covid issues to the SEC. According to Bloomberg Law President Joe Breda “We are committed to continuing to add to this collection, and possibly other features of BLAW in the future.” There also a Bloomberg Law Corona Virus news page  That offers great deal of public content as well as a free newsletter.

Fastcase Covid-19 “Mall of American Resources”
Covid Resources “Gallery”   Fastcase COO, Steve Errick sent me an email about Fastcase’s Covid-19 efforts. ”We are supporting our bar members by providing them a list of resources including noting where our publishing peers provide
Continue Reading New Covid-19 Resources From Fastcase, PacerPro, Tax Notes and PubK Law. Free Covid Resources From Westlaw and Bloomberg Law

Today Casetext is launching CARA AI which offers significant changes to both the CARA and Casetext research experience. Today CARA  is being transformed from a citation analysis tool into a full fledged legal research engine.

I had a chance to talk to Casetext co-founders Jake Heller and Pablo Arredondo about the launch . Heller, the CEO of Casetext describes these enhancements as “helping attorneys at any phase of their research find better authorities faster.”  Arredondo, who is the Chief Legal Research Officer described  CARA AI as offering a solution like Google, Apple and Amazon Prime — “CARA AI gives you only what you need.”

CARA AI

Key features include:

  • Seamless integration of CARA AI contextual search into the traditional research workflow.
  • The ability to execute searches by loading briefs, motions, complaints and answers.
  • An enhanced user interface, upgraded algorithm and increased speed.

Speed  The press release  states that  these enhancements make Casetext the “fastest research platform.” They did not provide any data to back this statement up,  but the demo I saw showed the new platform delivering near immediate search results and document retrievals. I have to agree –CARA AI is lightening fast.
Continue Reading CARA AI: Did Casetext Just “Drop Kick” Keywords Out of the Legal Research Process?