Crime & Federalism recently posted about a new research service called “PreCYdent,” the function of which he briefly describes:

It appears to “rank” cases much in the way Google ranks web sites. For example, typing in “qualified immunity” in PreCYdent doesn’t just give you a random list of cases. It gives you the leading cases. Saucier v. Katz, for example, is the leading modern day case on qualified immunity. It’s also the first result.

Not all searches run that well, as the writer points out in what amounts to a mini-review, but the service shows promise. You can read more about the service at Right Coast in a post authored by one of the co-founders of the company developing the service.

UPDATE (1/31/08): I’ve corrected the first link in this post to go to the intended post at Crime & Federalism. I had initially linked directly to my comment at that post, instead of the post itself. That was inadvertent. I’m not that narcissistic. Honest. No matter what Judge Kozinski says.

UPDATE #2 (1/31/08): Also posting about the new service is Robert Ambrogi’s Lawsites, which includes some details about the service and several informative links. Thanks to Appellate Law & Practice for the Ambrogi link. And thanks to both of them for this link to the PreCYdent service.