Lawyers Gain Free Access to Online Legal Library and Research Tools

Washington, DC (March 1, 2011) — Legal publisher Fastcase today announces a partnership with the Philadelphia Bar Association to provide free access to one of the world’s most comprehensive legal research libraries. Beginning March 1, 2011, any law firm whose attorneys are all members of the Philadelphia Bar Association will receive free and unlimited access to smarter legal research tools and the comprehensive Fastcase online legal research system.

Bar members will get free access to Fastcase’s Pennsylvania and select federal law libraries, as well as the opportunity to subscribe individually to the Fastcase nationwide Premium subscription for $195 per member per year (the service normally costs $995 per year).

In addition to favorable pricing for individual members, Fastcase is providing substantial discounts for large law firms that subscribe to Fastcase’s Enterprise Edition. Many Amlaw 200 firms are saving hundreds of thousands of dollars while enjoying smarter research with Fastcase.

“This innovative service will be a great new resource for firms whose Philadelphia lawyers are all members of our bar,” said Rudolph (Rudy) Garcia, Chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association. “We will provide Pennsylvania state and federal cases, statutes and rules for free. In addition, the full nationwide database will be available at a substantial discount. This will greatly reduce the legal research costs incurred by our members and their clients.”

Fastcase continues to democratize the law by making the law more accessible to more people. Currently the company provides free premium legal research to more than 500,000 subscribers, in dozens of AmLaw 200 law firms, 20 state bar associations and dozens of voluntary bar associations and law schools. It also provides access to legal research through award-winning free mobile apps on the iPhone and iPad.

Through the Philadelphia Bar Association partnership, more than 13,000 attorneys can now access legal research tools and databases for free through the Bar’s website, www.philadelphiabar.org – a service that would otherwise cost lawyers and law firms hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. The service is provided as a member benefit and is unrestricted by time or number of transactions, with unlimited printing, reference assistance, and customer service included for free.

The Philadelphia Bar Association is America’s first chartered metropolitan bar association and Pennsylvania’s largest local bar association. Its partnership with Fastcase reflects the Bar’s commitment to providing its members with outstanding services that enhance their practice.

“What a year of explosive growth – we just launched benefits with the DC Bar and Georgia Bar, and are so pleased to now be partnering with the oldest bar association in the nation,” said Phil Rosenthal, Fastcase President. “We are excited to bring smarter legal research – and smarter ways of reducing overhead – to the great firms of Philadelphia. Together with the Bar, we expect to save the top 25 firms of Philadelphia alone nearly $5M.”

Fastcase was founded 11 years ago by two attorneys seeking to democratize the law and build smarter tools for legal research. Fastcase has gained overwhelming support from state bar associations, many of which have upgraded to Fastcase from LexisNexis, Casemaker, and Versuslaw in the last year.

Fastcase has gained very strong momentum in the legal research market. Fastcase was voted #1 in Law Technology News’s inaugural Customer Satisfaction Survey, finishing first in 7 out of 10 categories over traditional research providers Westlaw and LexisNexis. Fastcase’s free apps for iPhone and iPad have dominated the category, winning the prestigious New Product of the Year award from the American Association of Law Libraries. And Fastcase joined Apple, Google, Twitter, and others in the prestigious EContent 100 listing of companies that matter most in the digital economy.

About Fastcase

As the smarter alternative for legal research, Fastcase democratizes the law, making it more accessible to more people. Using patented software that combines the best of legal research with the best of Web search, Fastcase helps busy users sift through the clutter, ranking the best cases first and enabling the re-sorting of results to find answers fast. Founded in 1999, Fastcase has more than 500,000 subscribers from around the world. Fastcase is an American company based in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.fastcase.com.

About The Philadelphia Bar

The 13,000-member Philadelphia Bar Association, founded in 1802, is America’s first chartered metropolitan bar association and Pennsylvania’s largest local bar association. As such, it is a keystone in the ongoing developments of the Philadelphia and Pennsylvania legal systems. With more than 200 years of dedicated service to stand on, the Philadelphia Bar Association is firmly rooted in the Philadelphia community as a steady and reliable bellwether. For more information, visit www.philadelphiabar.org.