Anaya Nolan
Fastcase offers a number of tools to help users determine whether a case is good law. One such tool is the Authority Check citator, which provides a list of cases that cite your case, along with an excerpt from the citing cases. Bad Law Bot, another Fastcase feature, identifies negative signal information in citations by reading through the citations. It then reports on what other courts have said about the case, flagging any negative history. It is important to note, however, that Bad Law Bot relies on algorithms and does not catch all negative treatment. Before citing a case, it is recommended to verify whether it has been criticized, questioned, or overturned by subsequent cases.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Search capabilities | Natural language searches, Boolean searches, citation searches |
| Jurisdiction | Can be filtered by state or country |
| Date range | Can be specified by user |
| Sorting | Results can be sorted by relevance or popularity |
| Case law history | Authority Check and Bad Law Bot can be used to identify negative treatment of a case |
| Case law access | Cases from all 50 states are available, as well as federal cases |
| Case law time period | Case law history varies by state, e.g., Illinois case law dates back to 1950 |
| Case law libraries | Available as mobile applications for iPhone, iPad, and Android |
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What You'll Learn
Using the Authority Check feature
Fastcase's Authority Check feature is a powerful tool that helps users identify potentially bad law. It uses a computer-generated algorithm to locate negative treatment to a case and provides a list of cases that cite your case, along with a blurb of text from the citing cases. This feature is especially useful for legal professionals who need to verify if a case has been criticized, questioned, or overturned by subsequent cases.
When using Authority Check, users can sort their search results using two options: "Results" or "Database". Sorting by "Results" brings up the cases cited the most within your specific search results, while sorting by "Database" pulls up the cases cited most frequently within the entire Fastcase database. This feature ensures that the most relevant and authoritative cases are easily accessible.
Once you've selected a case of interest, clicking on the flag in the upper left corner will lead you to the hyperlinked cases that cite your chosen case. This is where you can identify any negative treatment or criticism of the case. It's important to note that Authority Check retrieves some negative treatment, but not all. The negative history it reports is limited to what is mentioned in the citations.
The Authority Check feature is just one of the many tools offered by Fastcase to enhance legal research. Its powerful sorting algorithms prioritize relevant and frequently cited cases, making it faster and easier for users to find the information they need. With its comprehensive database of case law, statutes, and other legal materials, Fastcase is a valuable resource for legal professionals.
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Sorting by Results or Database
Sorting by "Results" pulls cases that are cited the most within your search to the top of your search results. Sorting by "Database" pulls cases that are cited the most within the entire Fastcase database to the top of your search results.
Fastcase's Authority Check feature, located to the right of your search results, can be used to locate negative treatment of a case. It will also allow you to sort your search results. Authority Check provides a list of cases that cite your case and a blurb of text from the citing cases, but no signals. Fastcase retrieves some negative treatment (but not all). When a court cites a case that has been overturned or reversed, the Bluebook requires that the court indicate the negative history in the citation.
Fastcase's Bad Law Bot uses algorithms to read through the citations in Fastcase, identifying negative "signal information" in citations. It then reports what other courts have said about this case when citing it, flagging negative history reported by the courts. This is a limited form of negative history as it only reports what cases say in citations. For example, the Bad Law Bot will not flag a case that has been overturned but never cited.
Fastcase's powerful sorting algorithms bring the best results to the top of the list every time – making research powerful, fast and easy. It integrates citation analysis into search results, telling you how often each case in your results list has been cited.
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Using the Bad Law Bot
Fastcase's Bad Law Bot is an algorithmic enhancement that identifies court cases that are cited with negative treatment and flags them for Fastcase users. It helps researchers identify a case's negative citation history.
The Bluebook manual for legal citation requires that when courts cite a case that has been overturned or reversed, they indicate the negative history in the citation. Judicial opinions, particularly their citations, contain "big data" about which cases are still good law. Bad Law Bot scours all the citations in judicial opinions and flags cases that have been cited as being overturned.
If Bad Law Bot presents negative treatment, there's a good chance the case has been overturned. However, if it doesn't show negative treatment, that doesn't necessarily mean the case is 'good' law. Researchers should use Bad Law Bot as an aid, not as a comprehensive guide, and double-check with other citator services like Shepards or KeyCite.
To use Bad Law Bot, you can start by conducting a natural language search or a citation search on Fastcase. After locating the case you're interested in, click on the Authority Check feature to the right of your search results. This will allow you to see if there is any negative treatment cited for that particular case. The Authority Check feature is a powerful tool for identifying whether a case is still good law.
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Natural language searches
Fastcase is a powerful tool for legal research, allowing users to search for statutes and cases on a particular topic. It is especially useful if you don't have the exact citation of a specific case. In such instances, Fastcase allows users to employ natural language searches, which are searches using phrases similar to everyday speech. For example, you can search using natural language phrases such as "violations of Fourth Amendment rights".
Fastcase also offers advanced search options to create more powerful and dynamic searches. For instance, you can use the Authority Check feature to locate negative treatment to a case or to sort your search results. Sorting using "Results" pulls cases cited the most within your search to the top of your search results, while sorting using "Database" pulls cases cited the most within the entire Fastcase Database to the top.
Additionally, Fastcase's Interactive Timeline is a useful feature for identifying authoritative cases in your search results at a glance, showing the chronology of cases and which cases were cited most frequently. Another unique feature is Forecite, which identifies cases likely to be relevant that do not include all your search terms.
Fastcase also has free mobile applications for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices, allowing lawyers to perform legal research from anywhere and on any device. These apps can be synced with your Fastcase account, providing access to your recent searches and saved cases across different devices.
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Filtering by jurisdiction
To filter by jurisdiction, you can start by selecting a jurisdiction from the "Recently Searched" or "State Jurisdictions" sections in the "Complete Jurisdiction Library." Alternatively, you can access the “Choose Libraries” section and filter by libraries based on jurisdiction. If you're using the Fastcase 7 (FC7) interface, click on the “Jurisdiction & Sources” button on the right side of the search bar. A pop-up window will appear, allowing you to select one or more federal or state jurisdictions.
Once you've selected your desired jurisdiction(s), you can further refine your search by choosing specific types of materials, such as cases, statutes, regulations, or court rules. For example, if you've selected a particular state, you can choose from options like the state's code, case law, or all materials.
Additionally, you can specify a date range for your search or leave it blank to retrieve all results from the Fastcase database. You can also use the “Sort Results By” option to specify the order in which your search results will appear.
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Frequently asked questions
Many bar associations offer Fastcase as a free member benefit. You can also access it on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device by downloading the Fastcase app and creating a new user account.
You can perform a natural language search, which allows you to include certain words in your keyword search that may or may not appear in the result. Alternatively, if you know the exact citation of the case, you can perform a citation search, making sure to include the volume number, reporter identifier, and the first page of the case.
You can use the Authority Check feature, which will show you if there is any negative treatment cited to your case. Another option is to use Bad Law Bot, which identifies negative "signal information" in citations and reports what other courts have said about the case.
Yes, Fastcase provides access to cases and statutes from all 50 states, making it a valuable resource for lawyers who need to research other states.
You can filter your search results by jurisdiction, libraries, date range, and results order.
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