Resources for free or low cost legal research, providing a great way to get started with research if you don't have access to paid databases or if you want to get an overview of a topic before using potentially expensive searches.
All New York State Bar Association members receive free access to Fastcase's Authority Check and the following libraries on Fastcase: U.S. Supreme Court Decisions, 2d Circuit Decisions, NY State Supreme and Appellate Court Decisions, and NY Consolidated Laws and U.S. Code.
In addition, unlimited access to the full Fastcase law library is available at a discounted rate.
Coverage: Officially published New York court decisions from January 1, 1956 -present.
For the period of coverage, all decisions of the Court of Appeals and the Appellate Division, as well as selected opinions of the lower courts, are included. Motion decisions of the appellate courts also are available.
Court of Appeals decisions are available the day of their release to the general public. The Decision List for each date lists all appeals and motions decided that day.
A free case information service allowing you to find future appearance dates for cases in Criminal, Family and Housing Court. You may also view information on both active and disposed cases in Civil Supreme and Local Civil Courts. Also, if you sign up for the eTrack case tracking service, you can receive email updates and appearance reminders for Civil Supreme and Local Civil Court cases.
WebCivil Local: information on both Active and Disposed Local Civil Court cases in NYS for selected courts.
WebCivil Supreme: information on both Active and Disposed Civil Supreme Court cases in all 62 counties of New York State.
WebCrims: enables you to view pending Criminal cases in Local and Superior Courts in 13 counties and Summons cases for all of New York City.
WebFamily: information on active Family Court cases in all 62 counties of New York State and Integrated Domestic Violence (IDV) Court cases in those counties with IDV Courts.
WebHousing: information on pending Landlord Tenant cases in the Housing Part of New York City Civil Court (Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens and Richmond Counties).
eTrack: a case tracking service which automatically sends you an email notification when activity occurs in cases which you have chosen to add to your Case Notification list. Includes appearance reminders.
The Court of Appeals Public Access and Search System (Court-PASS) provides free access to Court of Appeals materials for cases pending on or filed after January 1, 2013.
Includes access to selected New York court decisions, a court locator, statewide forms, location specific forms, information on filing fees, access to the Administrative Rules of the Unified Court System & Uniform Rules of the Trial Courts, an attorney directory, and information on Continuing Legal Education.
Contains links to Comprehensive Legal Resources, Federal Legal Resources, New York State Court Resources, New York State Agency Resources, New York State Legislative Resources, New York City and Other Local Sites, Ethics Resources, and other Miscellaneous Resources.
