FINDLAW : ONLINE SOURCE FOR LAW REFERENCE

Presented by Anna Iwanski

WHAT IS IT?

FindLaw.com is an open access legal site for non-legal users. It began Jan 1996, now run by Thomson Reuters business and claims to be “the world’s leading provider of Internet marketing solutions for law firms and online legal information for consumers and small businesses.”

Excellent resource for adults looking to learn more, whether with an idea in mind or just wanting to know their present right for their particular situation.

LAYOUT OF THE SITE▪ Information on the site is divided into six

different search tabs at the top of the page, each which covers a specific resource: Learn about the Law, Find a Lawyer, FindLaw Answers, etc.

▪ On the main page layout, snippets from each of these are shown, which further helps to increase ease of navigation as well as to display some of the information offered and generate further interest.

LEARN ABOUT THE LAWThis collection of resources is ideal for a user to search a specific concern and learn his rights. For example, choosing Employment Law >> Wages and Benefits >> State Minimum Wage and Overtime Laws, allows users to see a brief summaries for all state minimum wages.

In this example, most states have a minimum wage $7.25, but some have higher wages and some have none established.

LEARN ABOUT THE LAW, CONT.▪ Other options available for

search by law include accident and injury, criminal, family, immigration and state laws.

▪ For example, under DUI Law >> DUI Arrests >> DUI Checkpoints, a user would find information on how checkpoints work and in which 11 states they are not conducted in.

▪ If a user is uncertain about which area of the law to browse, there is a recommendation to post a question on the message board.

▪ This information is a good way to start learning about an issue and what one’s rights are before enlisting the help of a lawyer.

FIND A LAWYERThis resource allows users to search for a lawyer near them based on their legal issue.

Under “advanced options” it is also possible to search for only those nearby which offer free consultations, accept credit cards and have videos under their profile.

▪ The other helpful thing I found is an option “Guide Me” which helps the user through a guided search, beginning with zip code, the category of the legal issue (ex. Estate planning) and finally the subcategory (ex. Guardianship). It essentially performs the same function as the basic lawyer search.

▪ This searching is especially handy for a user who may not be sure of which legal term to search.

FINDLAW ANSWERS

▪ Here the user can find postings by other members on specific legal issues, and perhaps post their own questions to seek guidance.

▪ Forum categories are broken down into broad areas of the law– Bankruptcy, Debt and Taxes, Consumer Issues, Criminal Law, Employment, Traffic Violations and Legal Research How-To among others.

For example, here are some forum questions that were highlighted on the main page tonight:

FINDLAW FORMS

▪ This section of the website allows a user to find legal form packages to buy based on the area of the law and the state they reside in. Some, however, are multistate. These forms can either be downloaded directly or sent through the mail. Prices vary on contents of the package. Some downloads might be $15 and some may be $50.

▪ Many of these forms can serve as a guide for legal measures where consulting an attorney isn’t necessary.

NEWS▪ On this section of the website, users

can actively seek out a particular topic or browse the daily headlines. Article links are sectioned according to Editor’s Picks, Top Legal Headlines, Other Legal News and Regional Legal News. These appear to be kept up to date as there were no articles on the main news page that were older than a day, which demonstrates the site’s reliability.

▪ Another resource I found interesting was the Twitter feed provided, which might be the most effective method for quick news updates. (Although it should be noted that some of these Twitter posts link to images or articles on Facebook)

BLOGS

The final section of FindLaw to note are the blogs, which can be searched by subject or by location. For example, here’s a snapshot of some Chicago-based law blogs.

Most of these are updated on a regular basis although some are more recent than others.

Most of these blogs are for non-law users but there are a handful especially for legal professionals.

BLOGS, CONT. One of the more curious offerings is a blog, Legally Weird, which focuses more on comical occurrences in the legal news.

The most recent headline?'N. Colo.' Secession? What a Split Vote Means for '51st State'

By Aditi Mukherji, JD on November 11, 2013 1:39 PM

Or 'Bigfoot Hunt' Goes Bad: 1 Man Shot, 3 Arrested

By Aditi Mukherji, JD on November 4, 2013 9:47 AM

A Bigfoot hunting expedition went terribly awry when one Oklahoma man -- a human, not a Sasquatch -- got spooked by a "barking noise" and accidentally shot his friend in the back. Better than getting stabbed in the back by a friend, right? (Har har.)

FINAL CONCERNS, DISCLAIMERFindLaw offers users the steps to educate themselves and the chance to know their basic legal rights.

But

While the website contains a wealth of legal information and some legal concern questions may be resolved from it’s use, it is not a substitute for contacting a lawyer if a user has a serious legal concern.

NEED SOME HELP GETTING STARTED?

Email me at iwananna@my.dom.edu

or feel free to ask a librarian for guidance.

FINDLAW.COM. THOMSOM REUTERS. 2013. WEB. 11 NOVEMBER 2013.

All screenshots taken from website.