Legal Alerts – An Indispensable Tool for Anyone Who Uses OSCN.

17 Sunday Jan 2016

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in In Custodia Legis

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In a recent post, I talk about an update to OSCN, Oklahoma’s website to access Oklahoma appellate and district case law. I recently learned about another tool, Legal Alerts, that performs an extremely valuable service. If you subscribe to Westlaw or Lexis, you may already have this feature.

Not all firms subscribe to Lexis or Westlaw, however. The price of both can be prohibitive for some smaller and solo firms. If you practice in Oklahoma, I strongly urge you to investigate Legal Alerts.

There are various ways to use Legal Alerts. Here is an example. Have you ever had a case where opposing counsel simply “forgot” to mail you a copy of a document they filed with the court. With Legal Alert, you are notified by email every time any case within OSCN is filed in which your client has been named. You will learn of filed pleadings, orders, or other documents filed in the case before the copy has arrived in the mail.

The web site does a better job of explaining all of its components better than I can. As fair disclosure, Shawn Roberts, the co-founder of Legal Alerts, is also the managing partner of the firm where I work. Feel free to contact Shawn Roberts with your questions. -CCE

http://legalizedsoftware.com/2011/08/09/480/

Legalized Software, LLC, the creator of ‘Legal Alerts’ announces an expansion of its existing service to include ‘Name Search.’ Name Search will expand our audience beyond lawyers to include journalists and other professionals that track court cases based on particular persons or businesses. Name Search allows for our clients to track new case filings that involve a particular persons or businesses by name. Legal Alerts monitors cases on the Oklahoma State Courts Network (OSCN) and emails case updates to subscribers.

‘The capability of receiving automatic updates from the Oklahoma State Courts Network about individuals or businesses in your inbox has been a highly requested feature and a great addition to our offering’ Says Co-founder Shawn Roberts. Adding to its already formidable feature set, Legal Alerts users can now track people or businesses by name. Simply enter a name and receive an email update when a new case is filed with that person or business. Read more about Name Search at http://legalizedsoftware.com.

Legal Alerts is a monthly subscription service with plans to fit the needs of any size law practice with plans starting at $10.00 a month. The Name Search feature is available immediately for current Legal Alerts subscribers at no additional charge. . . .

OSCN Adds Nine More Oklahoma Counties.

13 Wednesday Jan 2016

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Oklahoma Civil Appellate Procedure, Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, Oklahoma Supreme Court

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Legal Research, ODCR, Oklahoma Appellate Courts, Oklahoma District Courts, OSCN

OSCN Kicks off the New Year with Nine more District Courts added to its Case Search, OSCN (Oklahoma Supreme Court Network)

http://bit.ly/1n0FZJP

OSCN has been around a while. Oklahoma actually has two websites and, between the two, you can access every county in the state. The second website, ODCR, is useful, but not as sophisticated as OSCN. Both websites allow you to look up cases by county, name, or case number. OSCN allows free access to the hyperlinks that give you access to filed documents. ODCR charges a monthly fee for that access.

The larger counties are found on OSCN. With some exceptions, you can access everything that has been filed in the case in a relatively short time after it was filed. ODCR can be a bit slower to post filed documents.

Happily nine more county district courts have moved to OSCN, which is discussed more fully in this post. OSCN provides more than a method to access a court case’s docket and the documents filed in the case. It is also a great resource for Oklahoma case law, statutes, Attorney General opinions, and more. A very handy tool. -CCE

On January 7, 2016, the Oklahoma Supreme Court added nine additional district courts to its online case search. With this addition, visitors to the OSCN website now have the capability to search public records in 34 district courts and in the Appellate Court. This free service provides the public a convenient way to search for court records by case number, name, date of birth, and other identifiers. Search results are fast, and case information is available almost immediately after being processed by the court clerk’s office. In addition to online case information, site visitors may view court-related documents online; however, documents availability will vary by district court. . . .

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Heads’ Up! A Summary of the New Oklahoma Supreme Court Rule.

19 Thursday Dec 2013

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Appellate Law, Case Law, Citations, Court Rules, Legal Writing, Oklahoma Civil Appellate Procedure, Oklahoma Supreme Court, Research

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Appellate Procedure, Citations, Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals, Oklahoma Supreme Court, Oklahoma Supreme Court Network, OSCN

IN RE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF DECISIONS, SCAD-2013-63, 2013 OK 109, Decided 12/16/2013

http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/deliverdocument.asp?citeid=472452

There is a new official publisher of court opinions in town, and it’s not West Publishing.

On January 1, 2014, Rule 1.200 in Title 12 goes into effect. All Oklahoma practitioners should take note of this new rule affecting appellate procedure and citation format.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court becomes the “official” publisher of the Oklahoma Supreme Court and the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals. Whenever either the Supreme Court or the Court of Civil Appeals files an opinion with the Court Clerk, the opinion is published that same day on the home page of OSCN, the Oklahoma Supreme Court Network (http://www.oscn.net).

West Publishing Company, which had been the “official” publisher since January 2, 1954, will remain an “unofficial publisher,” along with the Oklahoma Bar Journal and other publications. Regardless, a parallel citation to the Pacific Reporter, a West publication, is still required by this rule.

If you practice in Oklahoma, you may recall when the Supreme Court started using its public domain citation form in 1997. This is now the required citation format – with some new tweaks. Among the new requirements are citations to the opinion’s paragraph for spot citations.

The Court also addresses how it will publish Memorandum Opinions and Unpublished Opinions. For the first time, a party or individual who believes an unpublished opinion of the Supreme Court or Court of Appeals has “substantial precedential value” may ask the Court to publish that opinion. Opinions designated for publication only in the Oklahoma Bar Journal (“For Publication in O.B.J”) may not be cited as precedent.

The Rule provides examples of the new variations of the required changes in citation format. The examples are logical, and easy to understand. If you wish to make a positive impression with either Court, I would follow these changes precisely. -CCE