If ever there was a better time to get your colleagues or, better yet, your firm on board with using Casemaker it is April 2004!
During April, the MBA will offer a 30-day free trial of Casemaker for non-members. With powerful new features, such as Casecheck (an easy-to-use cite checking tool), Casemaker continues to demonstrate that it is the most cost-effective choice in online legal research. Since the MBA has offered Casemaker as a member benefit, we have been able to provide many powerful enhancements to the system. The library content also has continued to grow both through the addition of new libraries for all members of the Casemaker consortium and through the addition of several new member states.
As each new state joins the consortium, its library becomes available to all MBA members. There are now 16 states that are part of the Casemaker consortium. One of the new national libraries being developed will include the state Supreme Court cases from all states in a single database so users can search one database to see how supreme courts across the country are addressing a specific issue.
Why not show a colleague a great cost savings and "recruit a member" for the MBA? The Recruit- A-Member Program is going on now through April 30. The more members you recruit, the better the "thank you" prizes from the MBA. See www.MassBar.org/recruit for details. The free Casemaker trial makes April the perfect time to persuade a new member to join.
If that's not enough incentive for any of your colleagues that may be non-members, any brand new member to the MBA beginning their membership in May will receive 16 months of membership for the 12-month price!
So, why not give a colleague a free 30-day trial of Casemaker and great introductory price to membership in the MBA? All the while, you'll reap the rewards of your recruitment efforts through the Recruit-A-Member program.
We've visited our colleagues at various county bar associations to demonstrate Casemaker and would love to come to see you all again to show you how Casemaker has grown since our last visit. Contact Jill Smits, bar services liaison for the MBA, to set up a demonstration. We'd also be available to come and visit any firm that would like to see Casemaker in action. Contact Jeanine Barlow, membership-marketing manager, for a firm demonstration.
We'll soon be updating the Casemaker page on our Web site with the newest information product information and a revised User's Guide. A new look for spring! Watch for all this information at www.MassBar.org/casemaker. As new features become available we will also explore them in Lawyers Journal.
If you review this information and are not sure that Casemaker fulfills all your research needs, don't forget to take a look at the supplementary special Lexis membership benefit that the MBA offers. If you exhaust the member benefit, no-cost Casemaker library and still find you need more information, Lexis offers a special program to MBA members at a reduced cost. That program is outlined on the member benefits page on the MBA Web site.