Leading state bar benefit providers create a powerful alternative for legal information

Washington, DC and Charlottesville, VA (January 5, 2021) – Legal publishers Casemaker and Fastcase today announce their merger and joint building out of legal research and analytics, news, data, and workflow solutions. The two companies will combine their teams and technologies to innovate research, analytics, and workflow offerings that empower lawyers with powerful digital solutions for their clients.

 

The two companies have taken a similar trajectory in creating an affordable and widely accessible alternative to the global publishers that dominate American law, offering subscriptions to bar associations, who subscribe on behalf of their members. Each company offers its subscribers different products, and this merger allows the combined company to offer state bar associations the best of both, a more complete alternative for legal research.

 

The companies share a common mission to democratize the law, a mission they intend to pursue even more aggressively as a combined company. In addition, the merger will give the combined company the scale to bring true competition to the legal research, analytics, workflow, and legal information markets as a whole.

 

“It is clear how much more we can do together for our bar partners and firms,” said Fastcase President and co-founder Phil Rosenthal. “We have long admired what Casemaker has done for bar associations and their members. We have great appreciation for Casemaker’s editorial and production excellence and their deep understanding of the bar market. This merger is the culmination of more than two decades of effort to democratize the law and ensure that every lawyer in America can afford high quality legal research. Combined we can do so much more to address the access to justice crisis.”

 

Fastcase has pursued a comprehensive product roadmap, with new projects such as its Full Court Press publishing arm, and with strategic acquisition of complementary products such as Docket Alarm in 2018, NextChapter and Law Street Media in 2019, and the technology and team of Judicata in 2020 – products and technology that can now benefit Casemaker subscribers. Casemaker has built out extensive statutory updating, historic nationwide caselaw, a caselaw citator in CaseCheck+, and a leading digest for its state bar associations, all based on editorial excellence that can add real value to Fastcase subscribers.

 

“We’ve been selective in scaling and we’re so proud to see the Docket Alarm, NextChapter, and now the Judicata team rise as leaders in our organization,” said Ed Walters, Fastcase CEO and co-founder. “These leaders drive our emergence in a market needing more alternatives. With the hard-won editorial and production expertise of Casemaker, we’re now ready to accelerate our climb, rewarding all our bar partners who believed in our companies as strong alternatives.”

 

More than 1 million lawyers subscribe to Fastcase and Casemaker, and the combined company will continue to support their subscribers and their subscriptions uninterrupted. “The combination of our two programs is long overdue, and now the fun really begins. The first thing we’re going to do, is what we always do, we’re going to put our customers first,” said Casemaker’s owner, Satish Sheth, who becomes a member of Fastcase’s Board of Directors.

 

About Fastcase

Fastcase is a leading legal publisher that democratizes the law, making it more accessible to more people. Fastcase is a comprehensive research suite of primary law, treatises, legal blogs, analytics, workflow tools, and legal news. Founded in 1999, the service has more than 900,000 subscribers from around the world. Fastcase is an American company based in Washington, D.C. For more information, follow Fastcase on Twitter at @Fastcase or visit fastcase.com.

 

About Casemaker

Casemaker focuses on a single mission: providing attorneys with affordable access to high quality legal research. Available for free to members of almost 30 bar associations, and to nonmembers at a fraction of the cost charged by traditional providers, the Casemaker legal research system offers full federal and 50-state primary law coverage that is often more current than that provided by incumbent services. The company is headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., and you can find more information on Twitter at @casemakerlegal.

 

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Questions and Answers

Why did the two organizations combine?

The opportunity to combine our two organizations provides our customers the best opportunity to receive market leading research, analytics and workflow solutions.  The acquisition by Fastcase of  Docket Alarm, NextChapter and Judicata technology now combining with the editorial and operational expertise of Casemaker, provides the market with the best long term opportunity for a 3rd provider.

 

Our vision is to be the #1 provider in each state and together we will lead to market innovative solutions around citator, docket and brief, party analytics, and workflow.

 

Was this economically-driven?

No – we started discussions in the fall of 2019, with the singular focus of combining to provide our bar members the best research and workflow solutions.  In fact the acquisition of Judicata technology last Summer was in anticipation of the Casemaker merger where the complementary expertise of the Judicata and Casemaker teams will drive innovation.

Is Casemaker getting acquired?

No, Fastcase and Casemaker have merged and joined forces to enhance our resources and be able to single-mindedly focus on the mission that both parties share to democratize the law and build smarter legal technology.

 

Is Fastcase getting acquired?

As above.  No, Fastcase and Casemaker have merged and joined forces enhancing resources to further democratize the law focusing on the mission that both parties share to build smarter legal technology.

 

What will happen to my Fastcase or Casemaker account in the future?

Fastcase and Casemaker have the same commitment to your bar association. Keep utilizing your legal research access/subscription as you know it today. Over time the combined efforts will enhance your experience within the Fastcase/Casemaker platform.  Our goal over time is to provide all of our partners with the best capabilities of both companies.  Any changes to your account or access will be communicated in advance.

 

Will I also get access to both Fastcase/Casemaker?

No, unless your state bar association offers access to both currently. Your access or subscription will remain the same for now. Our teams are coming together to hit the ground running. As we combine our resources, the combined team will send out notifications well in advance of any changes or upgrades. As always our goal is to put the best data and technology possible in your hands.

 

Will I still be able to access my state bar member benefit?

Yes, of course. We are thrilled to be joining forces to enhance state bar offerings. Our commitment to state bar association member benefits is redoubled by this combination.

 

Will there be an increase in cost to bar members?

There will not be an increase in costs to bar members.

 

Will there be any staffing changes that might affect me?

Your Fastcase and Casemaker experience will remain seamless.  Both teams are combining to bring you the best resources and we only hope to raise the bar.

 

Will law students receive free access to Fastcase since Casemaker students get it for free?

Fastcase and Casemaker access for law school students will remain in its current state until a unified law school student plan is finalized. All changes and improvements will be made in the best interest of law school students who will eventually be bridging into practice, and the newly combined Fastcase and Casemaker team wish to be the preferred legal technology provider for those future attorneys.

 

Corrections

What will happen to our account?

Your service remains exactly the same.  Fastcase and Casemaker have individually shared the same goal of access to justice for a critical audience. Both teams are excited about the newly combined effort of this long-standing mutual goal and the benefits it will provide correctional facility populations, their family and friends, and the corrections industry. The combined teams look forward to sharing their vision for serving this critical audience as their resources come together.

 

Support

Who do users call?

Customers will continue to contact the respective support team for the platform you currently have access to. The Fastcase and Casemaker support teams are coming together to cross-train each other and establish a unified customer experience. All improvements will be made in the best interest of platform users and will be communicated as soon as they are finalized.

 

Only Applies to Washington State Bar or State Bar of Texas members.

If your association offers both Fastcase and Casemaker today, feel free to check out the other and experience the best that both teams have to offer. When doing so please reach out to the respective team that pairs with the platform.

 

Press Inquiries:

Please refer any press inquiries or unexpected questions to Fastcase’s PR lead, Jen Brand Ransom, at jbransom@brandsolutionsgroup.com or (202) 731-2114.

 

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In the News

 

“Now, as a single company with a built-in subscriber base of more than three quarters of all U.S. lawyers, this new Fastcase is, more than ever before, a force to be reckoned with in defining the future of the legal research and publishing market.” Bob Ambrogi, LawSites 

 

“The combined company once integrated will be well positioned to erode Lexis and Westlaw market share – by offering a comprehensive suite of services at a substantially lower cost. The uncertainties of the post-pandemic economy  may be the perfect trigger for a radical reassessment of  multi-million dollar research platforms.” Jean O’Grady, Dewey B. Strategic 

 

“’That might look like a new Fastcase product; it might look like keeping both Fastcase and Casemaker; it might involve designing an entirely new system,’ Walters says.”  Lyle Moran, ABA Journal 

 

“The value that Casemaker and Fastcase bring to one another as a singular unit isn’t necessarily limited to existing products or content. Neither company will lose any staff during the merger, and Walters believes the increased manpower and editorial content will help speed efforts around data conversion.” Frank Ready, Law.com