Howard Nations' Top Ten Favorite Websites
Google Earth Pro: https://registration.keyhole.com/choice_kh_initial.html
For professional and commercial use, Google Earth Pro has the fastest moving graphics of the Google Earth suites. In addition to improved printing and saving capabilities, Earth Pro also contains better annotation and measuring capabilities, spreadsheet import and technical assistance.
Government Portal: http://www.firstgov.gov/
The most comprehensive data filled sites on the web are those created and maintained by the federal government. Firstgov.gov is the portal to all things governmental, from federal and state executive, judicial, legislative and agency sites, to local government sites and topical searches within all of the governmental bodies. Particularly useful to trial lawyers are agency sites such as the Food and Drug Administration, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Consumer Product Safety Commission, OSHA, Department of Transportation and all things judicial.
Accurint: http://www.accurint.com/
Accurint has grown in recent years from the new kid on the investigative research block to the most efficient and cost effective in depth investigation site on the internet. For the technologically challenged, the site is very user friendly and provides online training sessions to teach the new user to navigate the overwhelming amount of data. Accurint provides databases for locating people, assets, corporate data, licenses, official public records, court records, and a plethora of other data, in easily searchable format. Powered with cutting edge technology, this site helps conduct in depth searches much more cost effectively than any alternative.
MD Consult: http://www.mdconsult.com/
MD Consult is a fee based site designed to provide instant and thorough medical research to health care professionals. It offers searchable medical text, books, abstracts and full length research papers, journal articles, a complete drug database, more that 600 practice guidelines, educational patient handouts in Spanish and English and continued medical education courses online. For free access to many of the same databases search The National Library of Medicine at http://www.nlm.nih.gov.
Legal Information Institute: http://www.law.cornell.edu/
Cornell University Law School maintains one the most comprehensive legal resources on the web with links to worldwide, federal and state statutes, constitutions and codes. There is also a topical index with legal links to several areas of the law, legal organizations, law journals and legal academia. The depth of the data and the ease of navigability makes LLI one of the most frequently used legal web sites.
Search Systems Worldwide Free Public Records Directory: http://www.searchsystems.net/
Search Systems is the internet's largest directory of links to free public record searches with 29,498 Public Record Databases. Search business information, corporate filings, property records, unclaimed property, professional licenses, offenders, inmates, criminal and civil court filings, and much more. Search by geographic location: nationwide, statewide, territory wide, worldwide and outer space. Yes. Outer space. Check it out.
Sources of Truth: McAfee Virus Verification: http://vil.nai.com/vil/default.aspx
Urban Legends: http://www.snopes.com/snopes.asp
With all of the virus attacks on the web, a lot of time can be saved by verifying whether a virus threat is real or imagined and, if real, how to cope with it. McAfee provides this better than any other site.
The web is replete with misinformation and the first site to verify the veracity of the numerous urban legends that float on the web is Snopes. It is also fun.
Findlaw: http://www.findlaw.com/
Findlaw, which is designed as the ultimate resource site for lawyers, also has special sections for the public, for small business, for students, and for corporate counsel. Findlaw consistently appears on top ten list of legal sites on the web because of the broad range of topics and the easy navigability.
Public Data: http://www.publicdata.com/
This is the quickest, easiest and least expensive fee based public records search site and is particularly useful for Texans. Public Data began in Texas and as it continues to expand exponentially, it always adds new Texas databases first. The cost is nominal and the information is extremely useful. Aside from my personal web site, this is the research site I use most frequently to locate and learn about the people in my cases.
Nations Legal Links: http://www.howardnations.com
Obviously my favorite web site is the one that contains all of the above sites plus thousands of links to the law of all fifty states, all federal and state government sites, databases for forty one practice areas, ten injury areas, fourteen causation areas, plus extensive medical sites and twenty five general resource areas, all chosen for their usefulness to practicing attorneys. The site is maintained as a service to the bar and many of the links were suggested by attorneys. Any suggestions for additions should be e-mailed to nations@howardnations.com.
