The Best (and Worst) Legal Sites on the Web

THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE BEST (AND WORST) LEGAL SITES ON THE WEB 2^nd Edition

By Robert J. Ambrogi

ALM Publishing

$49.95, softcover, 417 pages; ISBN 1-58852-117-6 (2004).

            This book is full of useful information for any legal professional using the Internet.  For anyone familiar with blogs, Robert Ambrogi's LawSites is a staple.  Think of his book, The Essential Guide to the Best (and Worst) Legal Sites on the Web, as a natural extension of his blog.  Not only does Ambrogi provide the reader with "the best" sites in various categories, but he also gives extensive comments about each site and explains why it was chosen.

           

Just how does he choose these sites?  He explains in the first chapter that the best sites, the ones that rate his five-stars, are outstanding in these ways:

·        Overall usefulness to legal professionals.

·        Content.

·        Design and presentation.

·        Accessibility and ease of use.

·        Innovation.

I've been using the Internet and computers for many years.  I've taught many CLE courses on using the Internet to both lawyers and other legal

professionals.  I only wish that I had known about this book earlier.  It groups Internet sites based upon their focus and content and then lists them according to his five-star ranking system.  This book is an indispensable, timesaving tool for anyone doing research on the Web.  When you need to research an unfamiliar area, no longer will you feel like you're searching for that proverbial needle in a haystack.  Before just clicking onto Google and hoping that a relevant match appears, grab this book and find a better starting point – or more often than not, the exact site you were looking for.

            The book begins with reviews of crawlers (sites that search the Web to create searchable databases), indexes (Website directories), and metasearchers (a single site that allows you to use several search tools at once).  Be ready for some surprising – though accurate – results.  For crawlers, for example, the expected Google and AlltheWeb are listed, and each is given 5 stars.  Teoma, a site I never use, is also given 5 stars, along with two lengthy paragraphs explaining how the site works and why it is ranked so high. 

            The same chapter scours the more than 20,000 federal government websites and picks out the top four that rate five-stars, as well as one rating four-stars and two others rating three-stars.  Again, each site is given at least a paragraph of description to help you decide if the information you're looking for is likely to be found there.  Four five-star people finders, including Infospace and Switchboard, are also noted.

            Because this book is written for the legal professional, a separate chapter is all about legal sites: law crawlers, legal indexes, and other legal destinations.  It's full of the best legal sites on the Internet; including such five-star locations as Findlaw, LawCrawler and Hieros Gamos.

Other top-notch legal destinations include such familiar names as Law.com, LLRX.com, The Virtual Chase and several others.

            There are separate chapters for Bankruptcy Lawyers, Corporation Law, Criminal Law, Environmental Resources, Estate Planning, Family Law, Intellectual Property, Employment Law, Internet Law, Real Estate, Securities, Torts and several other practice areas.  In addition, there are entire chapters on wonderful sites when researching ethical questions, obtaining CLE online and marketing your practice.  Ambrogi also lists the best medical sites for trial lawyers, non-legal sites helpful to busy lawyers.  He even includes a chapter on web logs (blogs) – what could be more current?

            Finally, the book includes an Appendix on sites dealing with the Supreme Court, another on finding State and Federal Court Opinions on the Internet and another chapter focusing on State Laws.  If you're starting to get the impression that the book has the very best sites from practically any source you're likely to need in your daily practice, you're absolutely right!

            One criticism of the book is that there is no accompanying CD containing hyperlinks to all the sites.  (But then again, I suppose that's the purpose behind Robert Ambrogi's LawSites.)  Another minor point: there aren't very many one-star or "worst" sites listed.  Quite frankly, that's a good thing.  I don't need a book to tell me how to find the worst legal sites.  I can do that on my own thank you very much! 

            This legal book is one that doesn't belong on your bookshelf – if should be on your desk next to your computer.  I guarantee that you'll find some of your "old favorites" listed, as well as many excellent sites that will soon become your "new favorites."  Whether you're a savvy web searcher or a mere novice, this guide is written in clear, easily understood language and it will greatly assist you in any legal research.  The book is well named:  it's an Essential Guide for every legal professional.  It's available on Amazon, or where the author prefers that you purchase it, at LawCatalog.com.

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[vichi]

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