Legal Research Market Disruptors: Open Law Initiatives Join Earlier Generation of US Case Law Alternatives

A flurry of activity among new and existing providers of US case law is raising anew the question of whether bigger change is afoot in the legal research space. This new level of activity is worth examining, not just for the effect these players will have on commercial legal research giants Thomson West, LexisNexis, and Wolters Kluwer, but also for identifying potential growth in end-user markets outside traditional legal research markets in the legal industry. This report takes an in-depth look at six companies: AltLaw.org, Collexis, Fastcase, Justia.com, PreCYdent, and VersusLaw, and contains:

- Company highlights for all six, including business model, key products, and what makes them unique;
- Details of the competitive landscape for legal information players;
- Analysis of opportunities and threats for these companies;
- Essential actions for major legal information publishers as well as some of the newer disruptors.