Online database of current and past lawsuits?
 

I just got done watching Erin Brokovich(sp?) and it just got my mind wandering. I've just spent hours looking around a different lawsuits and information about PG&E enviromental stuff. I found alot of intresting things about the Hinkley case, and the law firm Masry/Brokovich were apart of. As well, as tons of enviromental things about PG&E itself.

Well, at the end of the movie they mention Kettleman as a lawsuit, that from what I found was supposed to go to trial in December of '01 if I'm not mistaken. I really never found much about it.

Does anyone know an online database or at a library what I would look for to find information about pending, or finished lawsuits? Not specifically PG&E lawsuits, but ones against other large corporations.

Call me sick, but for some reason I just find the reading, and the arguments very fascinating.

Well, my uncle's wife's sister's husband is a lawyer (I know that sounds farfetched, but it's true) and he told me that he pays $2000/mo for special access to a database of this kind. That's pretty much all I know about this.

my dad is an attorney-- his firm uses WestLaw for legal research- it's not free - but it's very comprehensive -- in the old days -- lawyers would go thru stacks and stacks of books to get the info they needed... now they just need a few search terms online.

I'm not sure any of the really good search firms are free... I know WestLaw isnt

Any word on whether the hours they bill for "research" has dropped?

Westlaw has been around for years - long before the internet was on everyone's desk - if i remember correctly, it was a dialup service...

Paralegals and even legal secretaries tend to do most of the research and their hourly rate is a lot less than that of the attorney...

But in answer to your question, every lawyer i know bills for the actual hours spent - they don't overbill, so yes, the fee for time spent researching would drop...

Maybe you could try going to a library at a university or college in your town and getting access to a computer. They usually have subscriptions to Westlaw and LexisNexis for "on campus" users.

You still need to log on with your student ID. At least, that's how it is at my school.

Some schools (namely: mine...heh) you only need to login with your student ID if you're off campus. If you can get access to a computer on the campus network then you can get access to all the databases.

Same here ... that's why I suggested it. It's worth a shot.