Surfin' Safari-why Competent Lawyers Should Research on the Web

The easy availability of information on the internet has drastically changed the way that lawyers conduct legal research and has also affected the standards for competency to which lawyers are held This Article explores the ways in which judges' and lawyers' expectations have been shaped by technological changes in the last two decades. The Article reviews the various ways in which the adequacy of a lawyer's research can be measured and concludes that competence is measured both by what techniques are standard in practice and by what sources judges look to in supporting their decisions. Because many legal materials are increasingly available only online, and because judges are showing a greater willingness to rely on non-legal information available on the web, the Article concludes that a lawyer cannot competently represent a client without going beyond Westlaw and Lexis and conducting research on the internet. * Associate Professor, Temple University Beasley School of Law. Many thanks go to my colleagues Kathryn Stanchi and Susan DeJarnatt for their ongoing support and useful feedback on this project and to Kristin Gerdy for her insightful comments. I would also like to thank the law school for its generous and ongoing support of scholarly activity. Thanks also to Carrie Strasser and Megan Oroszlan for their able research assistance. 1 MARGOLIS: SURFIN' SAFARI Published by Yale Law School Legal Scholarship Repository, 2008