SME Law

Firms, lawyers, rush to save free access site

AS ONE of Australia’s top legal research sites faces being seriously compromised due to a lack of funding, law firms and lawyers alike are bolstering financial support to save it. Australia’s…

May 23, 2007 • By Lawyers Weekly

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AS ONE of Australia’s top legal research sites faces being seriously compromised due to a lack of funding, law firms and lawyers alike are bolstering financial support to save it.

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Australia’s largest law firms clock up between a quarter of a million and half a million hits on the Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII) site every year. Yet, as one of its largest grants slips away, the site is begging for alternative funding from those who claim to need it.

In an act of what it calls professional responsibility, law firm Baker & McKenzie has dedicated a minimum $35,000, while human rights lawyer Julian Burnside QC has offered $1,000.

In March this year, AustLII received an average of 637,000 hits per day on its site. According to an independent ratings agency, it received about three times the combined accesses of all commercial providers of legal research.