Free Law Project – U.S. Law

by | Aug 17, 2017 | Caselaw, Legal Research, United States

With the high cost of subscription caselaw databases, we’re always looking for authoritative free sources. The Free Law Project is a California non-profit public benefit corporation whose mission is to “provide free, public, and permanent access to primary legal materials on the Internet”.  Working with PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) they have collected every free order and opinion available on PACER and published them on an easy-to-use site called CourtListener.

PACER is similar to our Court Registry. It hosts case file documents and docket information for all district, bankruptcy and appellate courts. While it’s not free, it is very reasonably priced. If you’re looking for document information for a U.S. decision, we have an account with PACER and can help you find it.

CourtListener and Google Scholar should be of benefit to those firms who can’t justify subscribing to a U.S. database.

(Hat tip to The Washington Post’s The Volokh Conspiracy column.)

Indigenous Heritage and Best Interests of Child – BCCA decision

by | Aug 14, 2017 | Adoption, Family Law

The British Columbia Court of Appeal upheld a lower court decision concerning the consideration of Indigenous heritage with all other factors for adoption of a First Nations, Métis or Inuit child. While Indigenous heritage is important, it is just one factor to be weighed in determining the best interests of the child.

Commentary from Globe and Mail; CBC

Decision: M.M. v. T.B. , 2017 BCCA 296