Fastcase vs RECAP

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.

RECAP is a collection of tools for working with PACER, the system for accessing records from U.S. federal courts. Its browser extension adds purchased PACER documents to the searchable RECAP Archive, where documents contributed by others are available without charge. The archive contains tens of millions of documents, including scanned PDF pages. Users can follow cases for email alerts about new filings and save searches to hear when new matches appear in PACER holdings. Attorneys can route PACER notices to a personal CourtListener notification address so RECAP can process the notices and contribute cases and filings. The archive is also offered through an API and as bulk data for journalists, researchers, startups, and developers. Webhooks can connect website events with actions in other systems, and the maker describes a PACER-to-Google-Drive connector demo. The extension says it does not access PACER credentials or transmit information to third parties, while noting it uploads federal records to CourtListener and sends CourtListener queries about requested records. RECAP is free to use; PACER may still charge for purchased documents. Paid access is listed from $10/user/mo.