Electronic management and distribution of legal information

A system for providing an automated legal current awareness service, the system comprising at least one computer and programming stored on a computer readable medium or media that causes the at least one computer to:

• provide a plurality of different types of legal information relating to a common legal topic to a computer device;
• display the plurality of different types of legal information on a display device coupled to the computer device simultaneously in different parts of the display;
• and
• automatically update at least one of the plurality of types of displayed legal information while the plurality of types of legal information are simultaneously displayed.

A system for providing legal information, the system comprising at least one computer, at least one database associated with the at least one computer for storing information related to a plurality of legal topics, and programming stored on a computer readable medium or media that causes the at least one computer to:

• display on a display device coupled to a user-accessible terminal coupled with the system items of a plurality of different types of legal information, the information tabulated according to a classification comprising at least two types;
• access within at least one database, in response to a request received from the user-accessible terminal, content information associated with a document identified by an item of the displayed information;
• and
• cause the accessed content information to be displayed on the display device associated with the terminal from which the request for content information was received.

A system for providing legal information, the system comprising at least one computer and programming stored on a computer readable medium or media that causes the at least one computer to display on a display device coupled to terminal coupled to the system items of a plurality of different types of legal information, the information tabulated according to a classification comprising at least two types;

• wherein:
• the displayed information comprises at least one item identifying a document;
• and
• a length of the displayed item may be designated by a user of the terminal.

A system for providing legal information, the system comprising at least one computer, a plurality of databases associated with the at least one computer for storing information related to a plurality of legal topics, and programming stored on a computer readable medium or media, wherein:

• at least one of the databases is accessible in response to requests received from terminals having a general authorization for access to the system, and at least a second of the databases is accessible in response to requests received from terminals having a specific authorization;
• and
• the programming causes the at least one computer to:
• access, in response to a request received from a user-accessible terminal coupled with the system, information related to at least one legal topic in at least one database accessible by terminals having the general authorization and in at least the second database accessible by terminals having the specific authorization;
• and
• cause the accessed information to be displayed on a display device associated with the terminal from which the request was received, the information tabulated according to a classification comprising at least two types.

A method of processing legal information, the method comprising:

• assigning to each of a plurality of documents received from at least one information source an comprising information relating to a plurality of legal topics at least one identifier associated with (a) at least one of the legal topics to which the document relates and (b) at least one of a plurality of classes of information within the at least one legal topic, according to a type of information included within the document;
• formatting the received documents according to a protocol;
• storing the formatted documents in at least one database;
• using identifiers associated with the stored documents to identify documents within the at least one database responsive to a request received from a user-accessible terminal for information related to at least one of the plurality of legal topics;
• causing information associated with the identified documents to be displayed on a display associated with the user-accessible terminal from which the request was received, the information tabulated according to the topics and classes assigned to the documents with which the information is associated.

A method of processing legal information, the method comprising:

• assigning to each of a plurality of documents received from at least one information source an comprising information relating to a plurality of legal topics at least one identifier associated with (a) at least one of the legal topics to which the document relates and (b) at least one of a plurality of classes of information within the at least one legal topic, according to a type of information included within the document;
• formatting the received documents according to a protocol;
• storing the formatted documents in a plurality of databases, at least one of the databases accessible in response to requests received from a terminal having a general authorization and at least a second of the databases accessible in response to requests received from terminals having a specific authorization;
• receiving from a terminal having the specific authorization a request for information related to at least one of the plurality of legal topics;
• using identifiers associated with the stored documents to identify, in response to a request received from a terminal having the specific authorization, information in the at the least one database accessible by the general authorization and the at least second database accessible by the specific authorization;
• causing information associated with the identified documents to be displayed on a display associated with the user-accessible terminal from which the request was received, the information tabulated according to the topics and classes assigned to the documents with which the information is associated.

A method for simultaneously providing a plurality of different types of legal information relating to a common legal topic comprising:

• providing a plurality of different types of legal information relating to a common legal topic to a computer device;
• displaying the plurality of different types of legal information on a display device coupled to the computer device simultaneously in different parts of the display;
• and
• automatically updating at least one of the plurality of types of displayed legal information while the plurality of types of legal information are simultaneously displayed.

Computer program product, stored on a computer readable medium or media and useable for causing a computer system to:

• provide a plurality of different types of legal information relating to a common legal topic to a computer device;
• display the plurality of different types of legal information on a display device coupled to the computer device simultaneously in different parts of the display;
• and
• automatically update at least one of the plurality of types of displayed legal information while the plurality of types of legal information are simultaneously displayed.

Computer program product, stored on a computer readable medium or media and useable for causing a computer system to:

• display on a display device coupled to a computer device items of a plurality of different types of legal information, the information tabulated according to a classification comprising at least two types;
• access within a computer memory, in response to a request received from the computer device, content information associated with a document identified by an item of the displayed information;
• and
• cause the accessed content information to be displayed on the display device.

A system for providing legal information, the system comprising at least one computer, at least one database associated with the at least one computer for storing information related to a plurality of legal topics, and programming stored on a computer readable medium or media that causes the at least one computer to:

• identify, in accordance with a request received from a user-accessible terminal, at least two topics of legal information and at least one type of information within each of the at least two legal topics;
• identify within the at least one database information related to the identified topics and types of information;
• and
• cause the identified information to be output to a device in accordance with a designation received from the terminal from which the request was received, the information comprising identifiers for tabulation, upon output by a device in accordance with a designation received from the terminal from which the request was received, in accordance with a classification comprising at least two of the at least two topics and at least two types.

A system for providing legal information, the system comprising at least one computer, at least one database associated with the at least one computer for storing information related to a plurality of legal topics, and programming stored on a computer readable medium or media that causes the at least one computer to:

• identify within the at least one database information related to at least one legal topic, in response to a first request received from a user-accessible terminal coupled with the system;
• identify within the at least one database information related to at least one of the same or other legal topics, in response to a second request received from the user-accessible terminal;
• and
• cause the information identified in response to both the first and second requests to be output to a device in accordance with a designation received from the terminal from which the request was received, the information comprising identifiers for tabulation, upon output by a device in accordance with a designation received from the terminal from which the request was received, in accordance with a classification of at least one of topic and type.