Gopher: 163.231.231.3
Profiles of more than 500,000 attorneys and law firms in the USA. No
lawyer jokes here please!
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http://vmag.law.vill.edu:8080/
Order, order... anymore and you'll be up in front of the beak. Virtual
Magistrate is an online arbitration service for disputes involving sysops,
stroppy users, the flaming, defaming, copyright flouters, fraudsters, intruders.
Then there's the poor sod at the other end, the robbed, deceived, the defamed
and the flamed. Masquerading as a serious project from the Cyberlaw Institute,
it takes a ten dollar processing fee to sort out a sticky problem. Spinning
the wheel of justice are a motley crew of moderating specialists from a
public service, non-profit organization called The American Arbitration
Association. Complaints are filed via email and made public once a decision
is reached. Given this, who is really going to bother or abide by a decision.
What's more, there's no silly wigs.
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http://www.uklegal.com
If it's legal resources you're after you'll find 'em by the bucketload
at this site. There's information on barristers, solicitors, private investigators,
law associations, and legal experts. If you need to find a solicitor in
your area or the local fingerprinting or forensic expert then this is the
resource you need. And so the solicitor doesn't confuse you with terminology
there's a glossary of Latin legal terms.
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http://www.scl.org
The Society for Computers & Law (SCL) was setup to improve lawyers
understanding of computing technology and to help develop IT-related law.
Their Web site holds details of the society and its members. In addition
there's information on its meetings. These gatherings explore such issues
as why lawyers should use the Internet and the legal aspects of Web life.
The society already has plans to expand the site. These include an online
database of IT law information, a discussion forum, and a online book library
with a listing of publications and request facilities. At the moment there
is not too much here of interest, but if the site does expand it could become
an essential place for anyone interested in IT law.
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http://www.lawsoc.org.uk/
From page one this rather dull-looking site does something very useful:
it acknowledges that certain areas of information are for some people and
others are for others. The Law Society splits into a service for lawyers
(with details on registering a practice, membership of the Society, use
of the library and so on) and an information point for the public. The latter
houses material on how to go about finding a solicitor with 'leaflets' on
moving home, making a will, letting out property etc and lists solicitors
in the UK alphabetically and geographically. A wide selection of links to
other legal sites is supplemented with some special stuff related to IT.
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http://gnn.com/gnn/bus/nolo
Nolo is a long-established self-help legal publishing outfit and its
Web site mixes good advice with entertainment. It's not big on pix, but
the text is easy to navigate and brightened by various corporate logos.
Nolo is clearly an advocate of Plain English and articles cover a wide range
of legal problems, including setting up a small business, employment law,
family matters and divorce, landlord and tenant rights, money issues, copyright,
immigration and how to represent yourself in court. All the info has a US
bias, but the general principles are universal and some American attitudes
to demystifying the law could start UK brains ticking. A great jokes page
shows these guys aren't afraid to take the self-piss. Q: What do you get
when you cross the Godfather with a lawyer? A: An offer you can't understand.
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http://www.panix.com/~zz/colombo/mafia.html
Straight out of Coppola's The Godfather or maybe Scorsese's Goodfellas,
the faces here bear a remarkable resemblance to the mean-looking characters
portrayed by Brando, De Niro or any other Italian-American thug Ü only
these are for real! This is a fully researched fact sheet on the alleged
Mafia connections of New York's allegedly criminal-minded business bosses
and mobster types. The hang outs, the families and the commercial infiltrations
and fronts. If anything it needs more tables, family trees and graphical
illustrations to map this underworld terrain, and perhaps some facsimilies
of newspaper clippings and court files. The compiler, Alan Munn, is surely
a marked man.
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http://www.open.gov.uk/lab/legal.htm
At last, some straightforward information, no strings attached. If in
an in-trouble-with-the-law-type sticky situation, find out if you qualify
for legal aid (although the chances are you probably don't!).
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http://www.ipmag.com
Intellectual Property is an US-centric quarterly ezine which addresses
law issues in relation to new technology. The quality of writing is good
and the subject range diverse. For instance, the latest issue covers biotechnology
patents, copyright on the Net and employee non-disclosure agreements. Other
material includes an archive of past issues, a letters page, and links to
other online law resources and to the zine's law firm sponsors. In addition,
this site has balanced both an attractive design with fast access. Yet more
proof, if any were needed, that with the little imagination a simple design
can beat an all-singing-and-dancing 'show-off' site any day of the week.
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http://www.counsel.com/cyberspace/
If you want to know about copyright, libel, privacy and trademarks but
you don't want to keep your solicitor in smart cars and expensive suits,
this is the place to look. It's run by a load of American university boffins
but is quite entertaining nonetheless. You can also join in discussions
and ask for specific advice on the associated mailing list -- without somebody
charging you £200 for the privilege.
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http://www.cyberlawcentre.org.uk/
The Cyber Law Centre is a collection of legal resources collated by
a rather glamorous looking law student called Hannah Oppenheim. Included
are relevant links, mailing lists and research tools, with more to come.
One of the most interesting elements is the conference, which seems reasonably
active, and this whole site is well on the way to developing into a valuable
resource for legal beagles.
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http://www.alertuk.com
The Allied Lawyers Response Team (or ALeRT) is a group of law firms
dedicated to fighting the forces of darkness. At least that's the way they
would like to come across. On their Web site you'll find cases studies detailing
how they're standing up for the individual against big bad corporations
or government departments. The rights of haemophiliacs and victims asbestos-related
diseases may well be noble causes, but ALeRT's methods are questionable.
The group is proactive, they seek out clients by constantly monitoring new
products, especially from drugs companies. So are they really freedom fighters
or just out there to make a quick buck? The case for ALeRT can be found
on this site, trying to understand it is another thing as finding information
is made complex by the menu design. But how many times have you ever had
a straight answer from a lawyer?
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http://www.penlex.org.uk
To pretend that society's ills will be solved if we just 'lock 'em up
and throw away the key' is to ignore the experience, the research and the
expertise that already exists in the British penal system. This UK-based
site holds an overwhelming amount of information on prison service structure,
policies, rules, parole matters, statistics, annual reports, services for
prisoners' families and miscarriages of justice. It is unafraid to have
an opinion and begs for a complex analysis of these problems. Never again
should you pass an uninformed bigoted opinion on dealing with offenders
without first consulting this!
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http://www.fbi.gov/toplist.htm
Scary, huh! Complete descriptions of the bad guys (and they are all
guys), including handy identification tips, for example, ñHe likes
dogs, dresses flashy and is a big tipper.î You really wouldn't want
to meet these people on a dark night so just remember, call the cops.
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http://www.hyperlink.com/twobirds
The proliferation of lawyers and solicitors on the Net hasn't made it
any easier to choose which one to go to. The information here is fairly
standard but good nevertheless and there's a very useful little discussion
on putting disclaimers on the Web.
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http://www.inter-law.com/
Hey, a law library with a personality in the shape of Ralf, the cuddly
librarian. Ralf starts off by giving you a guided tour but then lets you
get on with looking for what you want, whether it's in the Reference Room,
the Legal Professional's Lounge, the Periodical Reading Room or the Rubber
Room (when it all gets too much). Excellently indexed but it's all American
law!
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http://www.open.gov.uk/police/metpol/methome.htm
As part of the CCTA Government Information Servoce, this must surely
be just the beginning of getting the Police online. The Met's being based
in London means there's actually some useful information on the River Police
and tips for using marine craft on The Thames. Otherwise, at the moment,
there is nothing about Operation Eagle Eye or a hotlink to the Police Complaints
Authority. When information becomes a free exchange, that's progress.
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http://mkn.co.uk/help/extra/people/NewCt
If most of your knowledge about the law courts is gleaned from blockbuster
court dramas and as-seen-on-TV, you'll find there's some stuff here about
barristers and what they do in our great British justice system, However,
it's more a general round-up of legal links, most of them in the States.
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http://www.gold.net/denton/
As well as being the largest media and entertainment practice in Europe,
Denton Hall is a leading legal eagle in telecomms, multimedia and IT. A
series of clearly written articles on Net copyright issues can be found
here, plus resources on all aspects of the Law. And finally, if you need
a lawyer, they'll advise for free Ü if they can.
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http://www-server.bcc.ac.uk/~uctlxjh/Bentham.html
Access to University College, London's legal archives, plus pointers
to other legal wells. There are also particular focuses on criminal and
property law, Usenet threads and essential lawyer jokes. The criminal law
area even has a section on general defences - how to get away with it, once
you're caught.
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http://www.webcom.com/~lewrose/home.html
Advertising law, at first sight seems very basic. If you're honest,
you might think, you shouldn't have any problems. However, it is getting
decidedly more tricky with hot issues such as privacy, semantics, product
safety, testimonials, environmental issues, baiting and refunds. With the
meteoric speed of the Internet's acceptance as an advertising medium, it's
very hard for even the legal profession to keep up. This site acts as a
clearing house for articles, cases, regulations and discussion on this topic,
but unfortunately most of the information relates to the US market.
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http://raptor.sccs.swarthmore.edu/jahall/dox/freakout.html
This is a first-hand account of police surveillance of Internet postings.
This user requested advice on suicide drugs and wound up in the lock-up
for two days.
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