TAP on Forbes Article

[James Love <love@tap.org>]

(tap-info subscription requests to listproc@tap.org) 

TAXPAYER ASSETS PROJECT - INFORMATION POLICY NOTE
CROWN JEWELS CAMPAIGN - Juris, Legal Information
November 15, 1994

On November 21, 1994 Forbes published an article by Marcia Berss entitled 
"West will always be there," which was a gushing defense of the West 
monopoly on legal citations.  For example, the Forbes article says:

        West has responded to the attacks by pointing out that
        the public already has inexpensive access to legal citations.
        West books are in public law libraries, and West charges law
        schools a fraction of what it charges big law firms for computer
        assisted legal research.

Forbes seems a little confused by the difference between a citation and
and an opinion, and quite a few other items as well.  They do, however,
point out that Vance Opperman "counts among his friends Vice President
Gore and Bill Clinton's first chief of staff, Mack McLarty."  

      our letter to the editor follows... jamie

November 14, 1994

Forbes Magazine
Forbes Building
60 5th Avenue
NY, NY 10011

Attention, Letters to the Editor

re:  "West Will Always Be There," by Marcia Berss, November 21,
     1994

Dear Sir or Madam:

I was quite surprised to read your spirited defense of West
Publishing's control over the citations to opinions by federal
and state judges, and the fact that you attributed so much of the
efforts to change this to the Taxpayer Assets Project, which I
run.  While it is flattering to read the Forbes' account of our
great influence, it should be noted that three states, Louisiana,
Colorado and Wisconsin have separately taken steps to develop
public domain citation systems entirely on their own, without so
much as a postcard from us.

The broad support for a public domain citation system, which
consists of no more than numbering the paragraphs and assigning
unique numbers to the text of a judges' opinion, is based upon
the belief that competition among publishers will benefit
consumers. You failed to mention the chief drawback of the West
monopoly on judicial citations, which is the very high cost of
computer assisted legal research.  In states where competition
among publishers exists, prices have fallen dramatically.  Isn't
that what you have been urging on the legal profession over the
years?


James Love
Director
Taxpayer Assets Project
P.O. Box 19367
Washington, DC 20036
voice: 202/387-8030
fax: 202/234-5176
internet: love@tap.org


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