News Post

Montgomery, AL – Today, Fastcase announced a partnership with the Alabama State Bar (ASB) that provides free access to Fastcase’s nationwide legal research platform for all active members.

Since 2005, Alabama State Bar members have received unlimited access to a nationwide legal research content service as a member benefit. After a review of its member benefit offerings, the ASB decided to change legal research providers and will now be providing complimentary access to Fastcase, starting in September of this year.

“The Alabama State Bar is committed to providing benefits to Alabama lawyers that enhance their practices and help them better serve clients,” said 2019-2020 State Bar President Christy Crow. “Throughout my Presidency, I have been committed to improving member benefits so that every lawyer in Alabama realizes value for their membership. Our new partnership with Fastcase will allow members access to a tool trusted by many across our country. This year has been incredibly challenging to attorneys across our state due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is more important than ever that the Alabama State Bar enhances our services for our members.”

Fastcase and the ASB are providing each of the approximately 18,000 lawyers, judges, and legal professionals who are members with complimentary access to one of the largest law libraries in the world. This member benefit provides access to Fastcase’s robust primary law database, a service that includes unlimited printing, webinar training, and reference support; it is not restricted by time or number of transactions.

“Attorneys everywhere have had their lives disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our goal is to support bar members in any way we can, especially through their member benefits. At this difficult time when member services matter more than ever, we are so proud to announce this partnership by adding Fastcase to our core member benefit program,” said Phillip McCallum, Executive Director.

Bar members can login through the ASB website with their existing username and password to access the Fastcase library, which includes state and federal caselaw, as well as statutes and regulations at both the state and federal levels. This content is augmented by Fastcase’s patented search tools, which makes legal research smarter and easier, including its “Interactive Timeline” visualization of search results, “Forecite” to suggest cases researchers may have missed, and “Bad Law Bot”, the leading algorithmic tool to identify negative case treatment.

Alabama is now one of 34 states, in addition to the many metro, county, and specialty bar associations, that offer Fastcase’s smarter legal research tools as a free benefit to members. Through bar partnerships, Fastcase is made available at no charge to more than 900,000 lawyers, nearly three-quarters of all lawyers in the U.S. Many of the largest law firms in the country also subscribe to Fastcase, as well as the majority of U.S. law schools and leading corporate counsel.

Legal researchers can extend their capabilities in Fastcase by opting in to integrated products, such as Full Court Press publications, data analytics and docket updates via Docket Alarm, bankruptcy and workflow tools through NextChapter, lawyer directory information from Modern Attorney, and artificial intelligence tools within the AI Sandbox, plus access to licensed secondary materials through Wolters Kluwer and other publishers.

>>Check out our “Frequently Asked Questions” section to learn more about this transition to Fastcase.

About the Alabama State Bar
The Alabama State Bar (ASB) is the official statewide organization of lawyers in Alabama. Since 1923, when the Alabama State Bar was created by an act of legislature, ASB programs and activities have continuously served the public and improved the justice system. It is dedicated to promoting the professional responsibility and competence of its members, improving the administration of justice, and increasing the public understanding of and respect of the law. For more information, follow the Alabama State Bar on Facebook and Twitter at @AlabamaStateBar or visit alabar.org.

About Fastcase

Fastcase is a leading legal publisher that democratizes the law, making it more accessible to more people. Fastcase is a comprehensive research suite of primary law, treatises, legal blogs, analytics, workflow tools, and legal news. Founded in 1999, the service has more than 900,000 subscribers from around the world. Fastcase is an American company based in Washington, D.C. For more information, follow Fastcase on Twitter at @Fastcase or visit fastcase.com.