Author: Cliff Potter at ~Internet Date: 3/11/97 5:41 PM Priority: Normal Receipt Requested BCC: CITATION at AO-OCPPO TO: citation@ao.uscourts.gov at ~Internet Subject: Citations In Public Domain ABA Citation Resolution Suite 4-512 Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts Washington, DC 20544 Dear Ladies and Gentlemen: I am a practicing attorney who has appeared in three or four matters before the US Supreme Court and in a number of matters before approximately seven federal appeals courts over the last seventeen years. I understand that you have solicited comments on whether the public requires a public domain citation system. We support such a system. My practice includes copyright and other intellectual property matters, so I have questions about the extent of permissible reproduction of any citation system currently used by West Publishing and other copyright customers. However, I was appalled at the recent statements that the government cannot be trusted to publish its own decisions accurately so the publication of decisions should be removed from the courts and federal government and remain in private hands. For years, for many reasons, I have supported having separate federal and state court opinion collections. I feel that this is all the more important today, when an increasing amount of information is required adequately to compete in the legal marketplace. Courts and other sources are finally providing court decisions on the Internet. These freely available decisions make many attorneys more capable to compete in international legal matters without the often prohibitive costs of having to pay for what should be public decisions. Our firm has had very good fortune to date, and can and does pay for such publications, including those from West Publishing. Accordingly, we strongly support the continuing releases by the various federal courts of their decisions, and also strongly advocate a system that would organize these opinions in some rational manner. Taking this step may require some additional payments for the use of these sources if they are provided by the courts. However, the revenue would be not-for-profit, and could be better controlled. Moreover, the issuance of opinions and filing of papers through the Internet or at least modem is a fundamentally important development in the modernization of the courts, allowing the use of already typed text for opinions and reducing court workloads. Having a system of opinions with appropriate classifications also maintained by each court is a fundamentally important and useful endeavor. Opinions not currently available should now be published as Internet use increases and access to data centers would be possible. Today the courts must make the same payments (presumably) for at least some of the case books. The ultimate irony, therefore, is that the courts must pay for their own decisions so they can have a rational system of organization (assuming that there is some protectable content in a citation system). We would be pleased to provide further comment and analysis if this would be of assistance. Sincerely, Cliff Potter Potter & Thorelli Suite 7100 Sears Tower Chicago, IL 60606 312-258-5820 (main phone) 312-258-5828 (fax)