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Will Lexis Nexis and Westlaw survive?

By James Mullan

An announcement today in the U.S. looks like it could challenge the dominance of Lexis Nexis and Westlaw when it comes to the provision of U.S. Case Law.

Public Resource.org and Fastcase.com have said that they will release a large and free archive of federal case law, including all Courts of Appeals decisions from 1950 to the present and all Supreme Court decisions since 1754. "The archive will be public domain and usable by anyone for any purpose"

So the question is will this really challenge the dominance of Lexis Nexis and Westlaw? The immediate answer to this question is maybe and no I'm not sitting on the fence. I'm just not sure free websites can compete with the value added material like "Next Steps" and links to other relevant material that Lexis Nexis and Westlaw both provide.

Full post as published by The BIALL Blog on November 15, 2007 (boomark / email).