Category: Online Service

WESTLAW Debuts WestDoc on Web

New service allows document retrieval through the Internet without WESTLAW software.

EAGAN, Minn.'s West Publishing Company has begun the process of bringing its premiere legal research service, WESTLAW, to the World Wide Web with the introduction of WestDoc, an Internet-based document retrieval service that allows anyone with Internet access and a credit card to retrieve fully edited legal opinions.

According to West, WestDoc provides instant access to its extensive state and federal case law database, without the need to subscribe to WESTLAW or to use the service's access software. Users simply go to the WestDoc site on the Web, enter a citation, case name or docket number. There are no subscription fees associated with WestDoc--for a small charge per document, users receive opinions that have been thoroughly analyzed by West's attorney-editors.

For more information ENTER no. 247 after Clicking Here.

Category: Forms Software

RIA Introduces 1996 Tax Forms for Windows

TAX ATTORNEYS and other tax professionals who need access to an entire library of federal and state tax forms on CD-ROM will be interested in 1996 Tax Forms for Windows from New York's Research Institute of America, which the company says provides virtually all available federal and state tax forms via computer.

Subscribers to this software will be able to decrease the number of times they have to call a government office to track down a form, RIA says, and will also have access to an exclusive Internet site containing newly released or updated federal and state forms. In all, RIA claims, more than 850 current federal tax forms and more than 4,000 state and city forms are made available via the service, making it the most comprehensive source of federal and state tax forms in one place.

The subscription also includes more than 800 sales and use tax forms; 30 common IRS publications cited by the forms, with hypertext links directly to the publications from the form; instructions that display and print exactly like the government originals and viewing capabilities that allow users to see multiple forms.

For more information ENTER no. 265 after Clicking Here.

From the Publisher

In this issue of Law Technology Product News--our Third Annual Corporate Profiles Issue--we unveil our new masthead and announce a host of new developments in our evolution as the nation's most widely read publication on legal technology. Next year, we will be publishing 16 issues, a reflection of just how vital law office technology has become to the profession.

In addition to our 12 regular monthly issues, we will be publishing a special single-topic issue in March on equipping the legal road warrior and another special single-topic issue in September on the Internet and law firm Intranets. In May and October, Law Technology Product News will be publishing the first in a series of Buyer's Guides to help our readers navigate the oftentimes confusing waters of the revolution in computer automation.

Beginning next month--the start of our fourth year of publication--LTPN will also inaugurate a number of new features. Among them:

* Case Studies: descriptions of how products premiered in our pages have been adopted in the law office marketplace as solutions for legal professionals--such as equipping a law firm network, building a firm's Intranet, installing a document imaging system or CD-ROM network, to name but a few examples. If your company or law firm has a success story it would like to share with the legal community, please send a short 2 to 3 page description to us for possible consideration.

* Regular Columns: starting in January, in addition to our regular feature articles, LTPN will begin publication of two regular columns--one aimed at MIS and IT professionals, and the other at exploring the new Internet/Intranet technology that is changing law firm practice.

* Product Reprise: this regular feature will showcase the five most popular products in a previous issue of LTPN--as measured by reader responses--leading up to the awarding of our popular Readers' Interest Awards in December. Our January issue will feature the results from October 1996.

We will continue all of our regular features to date, and remain dedicated to being the most comprehensive, single source for new technology information for the legal community, both in print and on the Internet at our Web site, http://www.ljx.com/ltpn.

This Corporate Profiles issue is the culmination of a terrific year of growth here at LTPN. We trust that you will hold onto this resource throughout the year in making your decisions about products, systems and services for yourselves, your practices and your firms.

--James A. Finkelstein

Publisher