HISTORY OF LAW REPORTING
With the rapid expansion of the Internet at the dawn of the twenty-first century came an increasing public interest in obtaining current court opinions through this new medium. In response, the Law Reporting Bureau Web site was launched in 2000, providing free public access to the Slip Opinion Service database of recent decisions. Slip opinion and point page citations were assigned to meet the need for a uniform method of citing the opinions.
In 2001, the remaining gap in electronic coverage of the Official Reports was closed with publication of the Official Reports, First Series, on Westlaw. In addition, coverage provided by the Slip Opinion Service was enhanced to include all otherwise unpublished Appellate Term opinions and all lower court opinions that the State Reporter deemed of interest but previously had been unable to publish in the printed reports because of space limitations.
On the eve of the 200th anniversary of official law reporting in New York, the Official Reports Digest was published on Westlaw in 2003. For the first time since the days of William Johnson, a complete cumulative digest for the New York Official Reports was now available to researchers.
Above:
The Official Reports on Westlaw advertisement.
Above:
New York State Law Reporting Bureau home page at www.nycourts.gov/reporter, which provides free public access to the Slip Opinion Service database of recent decisions.
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