Legal databases provide comprehensive information to help guide lawyers in their legal profession. These databases help save time by providing relevant tools and services that a practitioner can use to quickly access legal research. These online features help users access exclusive content and provide up-to-date information on the status of current cases being litigated. Below are five tools legal databases provide to help lawyers in their profession:
1. Judge Analytics
Trellis.law has a comprehensive resource that covers the professional paths of both active and former judges, including those retired or deceased. Discover in-depth judicial profiles, analyze comprehensive analytics, and review recent case histories and rulings. This directory is an invaluable tool for understanding the legal landscape of judges across the states, offering insight into each judge’s unique judicial approach and perspectives. Regularly updated, this directory ensures that users always have the most accurate and insightful information at their disposal.
2. Motions Pages
Some legal databases like Trellis, have directories that contain legal treatises on motion types used in the state trial court system in civil litigation cases. A motion is a party’s or attorney’s written request that the court issue a ruling to resolve legal issues or disputes before, during, and even after trial. Motions are an important element of the litigation process that can narrow legal issues to be decided at trial or resolve the case prior to trial, saving the court and parties time and resources. Commonly used motion types include motions to compel discovery, motions to dismiss, motions for summary judgment, and motions in limine. This tool is invaluable to those drafting briefs who want to use the specific language of the judge who is presiding over their case. The case cites provided in these motions pages efficiently provide attorneys with exactly the information they need –saving them hours of legal research.
3. Secondary Sources
Secondary sources are materials that analyze, interpret, or comment on primary sources, such as cases, statutes, and regulations. Examples of secondary sources include law reviews, treatises, and legal encyclopedias. Secondary sources are useful for legal research because they provide context, background information, and analysis on legal issues. Moreover, secondary sources can help you find relevant primary sources that you may not have considered.
4. Up-to-date state trial court case docket information
Cases can take years to litigate and therefore can be difficult to keep track of. Some legal databases like Trellis keep the reader informed with real time notifications that will alert each time there is a status update on a case. Additionally, these databases can provide more information on the parties involved in the litigation, the judge overseeing the case, along with similar cases being litigated. Trellis provides the complete case docket along with citations and other details pertinent to a current lawsuit.
5. Motion Type Dictionary
A motion type dictionary database serves as a powerful tool for legal professionals seeking to navigate the intricacies of legal motions and their corresponding terminologies. By leveraging this comprehensive resource, legal practitioners can enhance their expertise, streamline their research processes, and craft compelling arguments with precision and efficacy. The database empowers users to swiftly locate relevant legal motions, access insightful definitions, explore illustrative examples, and follow up by locating related, precedent-setting cases. This enables users to strengthen their legal strategies and bolster their persuasive abilities. Embracing the extensive features and functionalities of a motion type dictionary database elevates the quality of legal research, enhances case preparation, and ultimately equips legal professionals with the essential knowledge and language necessary to successfully advocate for their clients in the complex and ever-evolving legal landscape.
Nicole Clark
Prior to founding Trellis, Nicole Clark was a business litigation and labor and employment attorney who handled litigation in both state and federal courts. She regularly represented multinational corporations in claims ranging from high-profile trade secret disputes to complex class-action litigation. Frustrated by sending internal emails and collecting anecdotes on judges in order to make strategic case recommendations, she built Trellis to solve her own need for access to data, information, and analytics at the state trial court level. Prior to law school, Nicole attended Bard College, beginning her college coursework at the age of sixteen. She graduated with honors from University of Massachusetts Amherst with a BA in Journalism, and received her Juris Doctorate from Rutgers School of Law in Newark, NJ. Nicole sat for the Bar Exam in California, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, and remains licensed to practice law in all three states.