The Mississippi Lawyer may have published an article on casemaker, but since the magazine is not available online anywhere, or in print at any library in this area(!)  I cannot say how informative it might be, or what issue in which it was published.  Yet another reason this website fills an information gap for Mid-South lawyers, but that's a subject for another article.

Follow up: A more "nuts & bolts" article on Casemaker at LLRX.com explains in better detail how the system works and why. Note the publication date of September 16, 2002.

The Arkansas Bar Association has formed a Task Force to evaluate the needs of attorneys and the public in the wake of September 11.  Their website provides a link to information on the American Bar Associations FAQ for attorneys on the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act, the Federal Re-employment Rights Act.

Internet Searchers are "Overconfident"

A new study by the Pew Internet & American Life project finds a high level of search engine use by online adults, 84%, and a high degree of confidence in their results, 87% say they are successful most of the time.  Yet, that level of confidence is likely unfounded.  For example two-thirds of those surveyed said that they were unaware of the distinction between paid and unpaid results.

This survey covers general search engine use.  Chris Sherman, Associate Editor of SearchEngineWatch.com has written "Survey: Searchers are Confident, Satisfied & Clueless" comparing that survey with his own and others that have made similar findings.  It's well worth the read to look at the common pitfalls and shortcomings of everyday searching.

Lawyers shouldn't expect Legal research online to be an exception to the overconfidence trap.  And there are more reasons to be more knowledgeable with general and legal specific search engines.  General search engines such as Google and MSN Search do not discriminate in their listings and results can be far larger than you have the time to wade through.  Results can be tailored or restricted somewhat with advanced searches. see Google Advanced Search.  Legal Search Engines limit their listings to law related sources, but can be limited for other reasons.  findlaw.com is owned by the same company that owns Westlaw and West Publishing.  While findlaw.com is a tremendous resources of free legal information not found anywhere else, my own experience is that search results can be skewed toward West products.  That's perfectly fine as far as I'm concerned, but that's because I know that fact before I start my search.  Several other popular legal search engines are geared toward the public and their results are aimed at the pro se researcher.

Background information on legal resources is crucial in the effective not to mention efficient search.  I've included information on several good legal search engines in my Internet Legal Research Guide.  Another good site with depth on the subject of legal search engines is The Virtual Chase.

I was curious to see if the rate of disciplinary complaints corresponded to the rate of civil filings in any way, but it turns out to be just the inverse, as far as I can tell.  The 2004 caseload study cited by the TBJ has not been released yet according to the Comptroller's Office.  Provided the TBJ reporting is accurate, the decrease in civil filings reverses a trend of the previous four years.  Looking at the January '04 Caseload Study which includes previous years' data not available before, all state court filings increased from 2000 to 2003 by 3.52% and civil filings were up 3.12% in that same period.  And while civil filings may have gone down last fiscal year by 1.8% the need for more judges has increased indicating an overall increase in filings.

The number of filings is not necessarily an accurate indicator of how much legal services increase or decrease; it's as close a guess as is measured in the state.  Just what is the source of BPR complaints is not reported.  Attorneys receive a report of complaints broken down by county every year, and the TBJ reports the nature of actions.  However, actions by the Board comprise only a small number of overall complaints.  So if complaints are more likely to arise from probate or family law matters and the number of filings in those categories went down 2.57% and 4.01% respectively from 2000 to 2003, then perhaps there is some correlation.

I will be even more curious to see the report when it is released.  I contacted the Comptroller's Office and was told that I would be put on the distribution list, but they did not provide a release date. Maybe I'll call my colleagues at the TBJ and see how they managed a peek.  Then maybe I can come back and answer the question I posed in the headline as a definitive "no."  And that would mean that we can give all the credit to Tennessee attorneys for the decrease in BPR complaint filings.
-TB

After replacing the old Code with the Rules of Professional Conduct, the Supreme Court appointed and advisory committee to review the entire BPR process.  They also invited recommendations for changes from the ABA Standing Committee on Discipline.  The proposals and Chief Disciplinary Counsel Lance Bracey's Response are posted on the Supreme Court site.  The ABA committee's proposal makes the most recommendations for change with Lance Bracey differing with some of these recommendations.  Although the period for written comments ended August 2, '04, a report by an appointed panel of practitioners is still forthcoming.

 A new study by the Pew Internet & American Life project finds a high level of search engine use by online adults, 84%, and a high degree of confidence in their results, 87% say they are successful most of the time.  Yet, that level of confidence is likely unfounded.
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Beginning in May 2005, Mississippi attorneys will have access to Casemaker online library.  For those not familiar with Casemaker, like myself, it is a consortium of state bars who each contribute their state's materials, code, opinions, etc so that every member has access to every state.  Practically all of this material is already online for free, after all that is wherelaw.com's whole raison d'etre, so I would be very curious to here from any attorney who has used or is familiar with this service as to it's benefits.  I'm not about to jump to the conclusion that it would be redundant, especially if it provides more robust methods of searching.  That would be something Tennessee could really use for it's cases and Mississippi could use for simple access to regulatory material. Casemaker may hold benefits for Tennessee and Arkansas as well.