Fastcase vs GovInfo

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.

GovInfo is a free web and API service providing public access to official publications from all three branches of the U.S. Federal Government. Users can browse by alphabet, category, date, committee, or author, and search publication metadata. The API exposes content and metadata in self-describing packages, while selected collections offer machine-readable bulk files such as XML with schemas, stylesheets, and guides. Searches cover case law, statutes and regulations, and legal commentary, including opinions from more than 100 U.S. courts. PDF files receive digital signatures and a visible authenticity seal that can be checked in Adobe Acrobat or Reader. The preservation repository keeps at least two geographically separate archival copies, weekly backups, a standby recovery instance, virus scanning, and fixity checks; GPO reports ISO 16363:2012 certification from December 28, 2018. The responsive site works on mobile without a separate app or URL. A public-preview MCP server supports integrations with large-language-model workflows. Full text is limited to publications stored on GovInfo.