Check it out at http://www.pacer.gov/

PACER is the US Public Access to Courts Electronic Records.  Searching is available for account holders and the cost of documents is 8 cents a page.

Last summer it came to my attention that Westlaw Canada has a glitch in the way it handles searching citations, which I posted to this blog on August 31, 2009. This email is an update to that glitch.

If you enter a citation in the Find box (Home page) you can use periods or no periods, e.g.: 46 c.p.r. 3d 492 works, as does 46 cpr 3d 492.  But, if you enter a cite in the Citation box under the Cases template, it only works with periods, e.g. 46 cpr 3d 492 returns zero results.  I reported the issue to Carswell and initially they hoped to fix it. But it turns out the cost associated with doing so would be enormous so it will not be fixed.

However, they did agree to add a note to the Citation box at the Cases template to remind users to use periods in a citation.  Unfortunately, they can only do that at their regularly scheduled maintenance. I don't know when that will occur.  In the meantime you may want to ensure you include this tip in any training sessions your lawyers and students receive.

Josette McEachern

I just discovered something disturbing about searching Westlaw Canada....did you realize that if you enter a citation in the Find box, you do NOT need to use periods or brackets.  BUT if you enter a citation in the Cases template you DO need to use that punctuation!

I expressed my concern to Carswell that the search format needs to be consistent. But until we hear otherwise, you may want to pass this tip on to your lawyers and students and include it in any WC training you do.

Josette McEachern

I you have had problems with the Alberta Courts Website judgment database today, it is probably because everyone is looking for the decision in Morrow v. Zhang released at 10 a.m. today. 

The Law Society Library will have a copy very shortly thanks to the efforts of ELLA member Linda Harmata.

Posted by Shaunna