Hunting for buried treasures.

Lawyers are inundated with information every day. A huge problem is to sort through it all and find the true gems that will help win cases for clients.

The Internet has become a major source of valuable information for lawyers. This month, we go online to uncover some buried treasures.

Web Tour for Trial Lawyers

I am a regular user of ATLA NET and often participate in online forums sponsored by the Small Office Practice Section and the Communications, Computers, and Law Office Technology Committee. But until recently, I had totally over looked ATLA NET's Web Tour for Trial Lawyers. This unique offering directs you to "sites of interest to the small firm trial lawyer."

Bill Baratta, a writer in ATLA's Marketing Department, compiles this monthly package. He provides the Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), or Web addresses, of important legal resources and explains what these sites contain.

To get to the tour, log onto ATLA NET (http://www.atlanet.org) and go to the "Members Only" section. Look for "Legal Links, etc." and click on "Web Tour." This takes you to the current month's offering.

The instructions there tell you that "the sites mentioned below cover topics in law, business, and `diversion.' Simply `click' on the highlighted word or phrase and you will be connected to the site that is listed." Below the instructions, the current month's offerings are listed, along with appropriate directions on how to access prior "issues" of the tour going back to April 1996.

The June 1998 tour features several useful sites, including the Highway Loss Data Institute, a site summarizing insurance losses for 236 models of passenger cars, pickup trucks, and sport utility vehicles; the Freedom of Information Act Help Center; and the Writers Free Reference Desk, which "can help you find the perfect word, historical analogy, or literary reference to make your briefs and arguments sparkle."

You can also click your mouse and jump to the West Legal Directory, the world-famous Cornell Law Library site, and the entire U.S. Code (maintained by the U.S. House of Representatives' Information Services Department). You can access Fed-world, which links you to Web sites maintained by the federal government, and Infomine, which connects you to federal and state government information. You can even jump to two sites for general Internet searching.

I found some personal gold in the March 1998 Web tour. I was looking for information on premises liability. This issue of the tour listed a resource called "Plaintiff v. Defendant Legal Issues," described as

an issues-oriented resource site designed primarily

for counsel [that] welcomes any and all

visitors to explore, interact, and contribute to

its database of online opinions, cases, articles,

and briefs relating to a range of legal liability

issues. Recent topics for discussion have included

premises liability, spoliation of evidence,

electronic data as evidence, medical

malpractice, and "year 2000" computer bug

litigation.

That was enough for me. I clicked on the highlighted words and was whisked away on the Internet's magic carpet to this site (located at http://www.dpg-law.com/index. html).

There, I found references to and useful quotations from the Restatement (Second) of Torts. I also came across two cases, one from my own state of Illinois, that were right on the button and, happily, in my client's favor. Armed with what I had previously received from the ATLA Exchange and now had found via the Web Tour for Trial Lawyers, I had new confidence in my case.

If you come across legal Web sites that you think would be useful to other members, Baratta would like to hear from you. You can contact him by clicking on the e-mail link that appears on the opening page of the Web Tour ([e-mail]). Send him the site's URL and let him know what kind of results you got from the service.

Another great resource on ATLA NET is its discussion forums. One of the most valuable sources of information is other ATLA members, and now you can communicate with them via computer by participating in these forums. Take a look at the list of committees and sections that have active discussion groups--surely one or more will interest you. You will be amazed at how quickly fellow members will respond to your questions.

If you are still looking for a reason to visit ATLA NET, the Web Tour and discussion groups are two good ones. Start by pointing your browser at http://www. atlanet.org. If you have not been on our network yet, be certain to have your ATLA ID number handy. You can find your number on the label that comes with each issue of TRIAL. Then follow the instructions described in column one of this article, and you will find these true gems.

Or, if you are at the annual convention this month, you can get a personalized tour from an ATLA staff member. You'll find an ATLA NET booth in the exhibit area.

Information America

You need good information from the very beginning of a case, especially when you're considering whether to take on a client's claim. Determining whether you have a good case from a liability and damages standpoint is just one part of the question. Another concern is whether a potential defendant would be able to satisfy a judgment in favor of the client. When the defendant has no insurance or inadequate coverage, you must know its financial viability before you accept the case.

Financial information for many corporations and most individuals is hard to come by. However, WESTLAW has a valuable but little-known database called Information America (IA). I have found information there that will help me collect a modest judgment from a defendant I thought was judgment proof.

Information America searches the Web for information in several categories using these features:

* Asset Locator;

* Bankruptcy Records;

* Business Finder;

* Corporate & Limited Partnership Records;

* County Records;

* Duns Business Records Plus;

* Executive Affiliation;

* Lawsuits;

* Name Availability;

* People Finder;

* Professional License;

* Real Property, Liens & Judgments;

* Sleuth; and

* UCCs, Liens & Judgments.

To search on individuals, you generally only need a name and address.

IA's Sleuth is an interesting resource. It is a database that identifies people or businesses associated with a name you ask the service to search for.

Sleuth simultaneously searches numerous sources to identify these relationships. First, Sleuth identifies which files contain information on your targeted name. It lists associated names and their relationships to the target and indexes them for easy reference.

Special "clues" provide information on associated people and businesses. After an initial search, all associated "clue" names can be searched to uncover further business and individual relationships.

Sleuth provides several types of information. For example, it reveals a person's relationship with a business or other individuals. It uncovers hidden transfers of assets between individuals and businesses. It determines the level of business activity a person is involved in. It detects conflicts of interest.

All this is highly valuable information to an attorney evaluating the financial viability of a potential defendant.

Another useful service on Information America is the Wizard, which simultaneously searches all online services on the IA menu. This allows you to identify where information on an individual or company is located within the overall IA database. Wizard provides a listing of locations for you to investigate, which can save both time and money.

The Wizard search helps your investigation because it evaluates which IA services have the most relevant information for your search. It identifies a starting point for a search, with very little beginning information, and it may uncover material that previously went unnoticed. This allows you to conduct the most cost-effective search with the most useful results.

When you select the Wizard service, you enter the name of the business or individual you want to search for. You are prompted to select a particular state or all states to search. After the search is done, you get a numbered listing of the "hits" the service found, categorized by reference to the other IA services or features where the information is located.

To view detailed information, you enter the number of the item you are interested in. Wizard takes you directly to the first screen (or index) of the service so you may view or print the selected information immediately.

When you exit from a service viewed from the Wizard directory, you will automatically return to the summary screen. From there, you can exit or view other search results.

The online world is becoming more and more useful to lawyers. Start taking advantage of these resources now.

Paul Bernstein is an attorney and law office automation consultant in Chicago. He can be reached on the Internet at [e-mail]. Information about the products mentioned in this article is provided by the author and does not reflect an endorsement of any product by TRIAL or ATLA.