Casemaker4: New and Improved,
Yet Reassuringly Familiar
By Norman Woolworth
Author’s Note: At the time this article was
written, Casemaker4 was still in beta testing. As
a result, it is possible features described or shown
may have been modified slightly in the final
version of the new platform’s release.
In January, State Bar Association of North
Dakota (SBAND) members were introduced
to Casemaker4, the next generation legal
research platform from Casemaker.
an extensive beta testing process, the team managed to achieve the desired balance, producing
a new and improved platform that remains, nonetheless, reassuringly familiar.
Casemaker4 features a clean and uncluttered layout, with all of the features SBAND
members previously enjoyed, along with faster search speeds, better search filter tools, and new
functionality such as type ahead searching. It is both W3C and ADA compliant and includes
a much more responsive design for enhanced display on smaller devices.
Not every change to the new platform is visible to users. As McCade explained, Casemaker
invested in significant “back end” enhancements.
In creating Casemaker4, to which SBAND
members have free access, the Casemaker
development team was presented with two
overarching imperatives: “We have upgraded our load balancing and database clustering technologies,” McCade
said. “And then, along with hardware improvements, we’ve invested in our server operating
system, and database and search engine software. The result is faster response time and greater
platform stability.”
• On the one hand, improve search
speed, modernize the interface to enable
more intuitive site navigation, and
upgrade design responsiveness to better
accommodate mobile devices;
• On the other hand, retain features and
design elements that loyal Casemaker
users value and trust, and minimize
changes with the potential to disorient. In designing the new platform’s user interface, much thought was put into making the user
experience not only more intuitive, but also more efficient. To that end, notable enhancements
include:
Put another way: Make it new. Make it
better. But avoid change for change’s sake.
“The history of platform re-designs across
various industries is littered with examples
of solutions in search of problems,” said Dan
McCade, Casemaker’s chief information
officer. “We were very conscious throughout
the development process of only adding
features that would matter to our users, and
of not throwing out the baby with the bath
water, so to speak.”
Guided by several years of user feedback and
incorporating refinements suggested through
• Moving the main navigation to the header area so there is no longer a need to return to the
home page.
• Enabling a search of anything from anywhere by including the jurisdiction selection menu
on every page. In concert, the system automatically updates the search jurisdiction as the site
is navigated, so that searching on just the content you are browsing remains the default.
• Adding time-saving options to the Search Input box, including “Recent Searches,” “Search
Tips,” “Advanced Search,” and predictive “Type Ahead” functionality (see next page).
• Adding Casemaker Digest (daily summaries of leading cases), Casemaker Libra (eBooks),
CiteCheck, and CLE Events to the main navigation for easier access, as well as the
Norman Woolworth joined Casemaker as director of marketing in the Spring of 2018. He is a seasoned veteran of the
online legal research industry, having served in a variety of marketing leadership and general management roles during
a nearly 20-year career at LexisNexis, most recently as the head of the company’s Federal Government market segment.
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