Computer-assisted legal research (CALR)[1] or computer-based legal research is a mode of legal research that uses databases of court opinions, statutes, court documents, and secondary material. Electronic databases make large bodies of case law easily available. Databases also have additional benefits, such as Boolean searches, evaluating case authority, organizing cases by topic, and providing links to cited material. Databases are available through paid subscription or for free.[2]
Subscription-based services include Westlaw and LexisNexis. Free services include OpenJurist, the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School, CanLII, Google Scholar, AltLaw, and Law Delta.