General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Ok, age check, who remembers? [View all]Jim Lane
(11,175 posts)New York State court decisions are available electronically. Sometimes, though, you need more information than is in the decision itself. For many cases, the briefs and other background documents are available only on microfiche (in, I think, about a dozen libraries around the state).
At the City Bar Association library in midtown Manhattan (a couple miles and several decades from Google's building in Chelsea), you convey your request by applying ink to a piece of dead tree and walking up to the front desk with it. A few minutes later, someone comes to the table where you're sitting and hands you an envelope with the microfiches for that case record. Then you go into the back room where the microfiche reader is.
I think I have an advantage over some younger lawyers who don't even know about this resource. If they can't find something online, it just doesn't exist for them.