Mass Law Blog

ScotusWiki

by | Nov 13, 2007

ScotusBlog is, in my view, an example of just how good a legal blog can be. A group of lawyers at Akin Gump, assisted by attorneys at several other firms and universities, provide in-depth, daily briefing and commentary on the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). If you are inclined to follow the Supreme Court, this is the first place to go. You may never need to go elsewhere.

Now ScotusBlog has added ScotusWiki, a companion site that provides comprehensive information on each SCOTUS case and will, presumably, allow universal editing, a la Wikipedia.

However, even in its current, nascent form the wiki is facsinating. The editors dedicate a page to each case, where they provide a case summary and links to all of the briefs, and more, for each case. For example, here is a link to the page dedicated to Stoneridge v. Scientific-Atlanta, a case that received enormous attention leading up to oral argument. The issue was under what (if any) circumstances private investors can sue accountants, lawyers, financial advisors or other businesses that allegedly participate in a scheme to violate the federal securities laws. The wiki page dedicated to this case includes the opinion below, the cert petitions, the briefs on the merits (including the many amici briefs), a summary of the issues, a link to the oral argument transcript, and articles, blogs and podcasts concerning the case.

This is a resource that could scarcely been imaginable only a few years ago.