News Items
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The Unofficial User Guide to New Casemaker Features
02/17/2016 - 11:54The preview we posted last month of our "The Unofficial User Guide to New Casemaker Features" has proven to be very popular with readers. As we explained in the preview, while the folks at Casemaker have been extremely busy adding new features and content to their database, and extending date coverage further back in time, their online User Guide has not kept pace, and is no longer up to date...
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How to Conduct a Quick Google Scholar Search with the Click of a Button
02/17/2016 - 11:50For those who like to conduct a quick Google Scholar search for case law or articles, you can add a Scholar Button to the Firefox and/or Chrome browsers’ bar. This allows you to launch the Google Scholar search box right from your browser bar without typing the URL. After the Google Scholar button is installed, click the button that is now located on your browser bar (see next image). The...
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Los Angeles Superior Court Civil Cases: Finally, Free Party Name Searching Option
02/14/2016 - 08:46What We Used to Do to Search by Party Name Although you can search civil (http://linkon.in/lasupernumber) and criminal (http://linkon.in/lasupercrimdefname) case summaries (dockets) free by case number using the Los Angeles County Superior Court’s official website, searching by party name requires a fee, as shown in the fee schedule below (civil:http://linkon.in/lasupparty and criminal:http...
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The Unofficial User Guide to New Casemaker Features
01/08/2016 - 12:45The folks at Casemaker have been extremely busy adding new features and content to their database, and extending date coverage further back in time. With so many new additions, their online User Guide is now out of date. This is a preview of our upcoming White paper where we will explain many of the new additions and add screen shots to illustrate many of the features. Subsequent Case History...
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Device Offer More Anonymous Surfing, Hides IP Address | eBlocker
01/08/2016 - 12:12In our live seminars, we talk a lot about the ways Web sites in general, and search engines in particular, are able to customize the informaiton you see based on numerous factors, including your location (as detected by you Internet conneciton), your IP (Internet Protocol) Address, previous web history, among others. One remedy we we suggest to minimize some of this customization is to start an...
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Dear U.S. Supreme Court Web Site: Where are Your Briefs?
01/06/2016 - 15:41NOTE: This post has been updated by a newer post - "Update to 'Dear U.S. Supreme Court Web Site: Where Are Your Briefs'." It never ceases to amaze me that our own U.S. Supreme Court does not post its briefs at their site, AND also fails to provide information on where to find Supreme Court briefs for free. Instead, the Court’s site tells you to obtain briefs from pay sites such as Lexis and...
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Does Passing the Newly Required TLOxp.com Site Visit Automatically Entitle Users to Full Social Security Numbers and Dates of Birth?
01/06/2016 - 01:01We recently wrote about changes to the access and pricing structure for the pay investigative research database TLOxp, in the post “TLOxp Raises Prices, Requires Site Visit for All Subscribers.” At that time we wondered if the newly required site visit that we were about to undergo would entitle us to access full Social Security Numbers and Dates of Birth. We have subsequently...
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Are You Searching the Internet as Effectively as You Think You Are?
12/28/2015 - 15:22In a December 25, "Dealbook" article, the New York Times details how IRS agent Gary L. Alford used his online searching skills to correctly identify the previously-anonymous, "nearly-mythical leader" of the illicit online marketplace Silk Road. Known for years to authorities only by his online alias "Dread Pirate Roberts," Alford positively uncovered the criminal's true identity - "Ross W....
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Summary of the Colorado Bar Association Ethics Committee Formal Opinion 127: “Use of Social Media for Investigative Purposes”
12/22/2015 - 16:51In September 2015, the Colorado Bar Association Ethics Committee (Committee) issued Formal Opinion 127—“Use of Social Media for Investigative Purposes” to address the conflicting ethical opinions from various jurisdictions about how to apply the established ethical principles to the use of social media and social networks as investigative tools. The Committee stated, “In...
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Google Cripples Another Feature - Location
12/20/2015 - 15:15Google has crippled yet another of it's search filters/features. This time it's the location feature. Changes to the search results interface now limit a searcher's option when customizing their location. It's fairly well known that Google customizes search results based on the detected location of your device (among numerous other criteria). For a number of years, Google has given searchers the...