BAILII vs Fastcase

BAILII is a free web service for finding British and Irish case law, legislation, European case law, and other legal materials. Readers can search databases by keyword or browse by date and A–Z title list. Search help covers basic, advanced, multidatabase, citation, date, and Boolean searches, including AND, OR, and NOT. LawCite supports searching by citation, parties, court, jurisdiction, article title, author, year, and cases or legislation considered. Collections include case law, legislation, European Union case law, Law Commission reports, and other law-related material. The help section explains printing and downloading documents. BAILII says access requires no password and places no cookies on users’ machines. Its stated beneficiaries include pro bono organisations, neighbourhood law centres, students, and users in developing countries; legal practitioners and educators are also among its audiences. OpenLaw makes selected leading judgments and reports available for legal education. BAILII does not offer an API or permit bulk downloads, and says large-scale downloading may lead to blocked access. It invites commercial users and educational institutions to make annual donations, without specifying an amount.

Fastcase is an online legal research system providing access to cases, statutes, regulations, court rules, and bar publications. Its research tools include the Interactive Timeline and Authority Check, while Bad Law Bot uses citation analysis to flag negative treatment when it recognizes it. Fastcase says its libraries are updated daily, with most appellate cases added 24 to 48 hours after release by a court. Free mobile applications provide access to the research database, and more than 80 national, state, and county bar associations offer the service as a free member benefit. The pricing page lists a free option and a daylong premium trial with unlimited printing. Appellate costs $65 a month; Premium costs $95 a month. A Clio integration lets attorneys track research time with Clio's timer and save research entries to matters. The service lists coverage across federal courts, all 50 states, and the District of Columbia, and describes solutions for small and solo firms as well as larger organizations.