There is a new(ish) legal research database online: AnyLaw.
It appears AnyLaw has been around since 2018 and came out for public use in June of 2020 (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-machine-learning-technology-by-anylaw-disrupts-20b-legal-research-industry-301073645.html).
“AnyLaw is a dynamic new way to do legal research. AnyLaw is a free and friendly legal research service that gives you unlimited access to massive amounts of valuable legal data, organized in a way that will save you time and money.” (from anylaw.com)
Designed to be free. “Case law is public domain. The collection and curation of the data is the tricky part. AnyLaw is the only free legal research service that provides the same usability as the expensive subscription services. At AnyLaw, everything is free. We have no subscription fee and have no plans to charge any in the future.” (from https://blog.divorceify.com/2019/10/07/steve-tover-ceo-of-anylaw-brings-free-access-to-legal-research/)
Hawaii Case law scope: AnyLaw offers free access to up to date case law, with linked citations, filters, and advanced search tools. Their Territorial decisions date back to 1930 (HI became a state in 1959, same year as AK); US Fed. Dist. cases back to 1947.
Search a case you know and you can retrieve it by name (Kalipi example below). The results display the reported case decision as well as documents the case cites and cases this document is cited by.
You can then save or download into a PDF.
In AnyLaw you have the ability to search by term (“common law marriage”) in a jurisdiction and locate the most cited case (or relevant or by date).
For browsing, you can search by topics with subcategories.
There are advanced search connectors available to help craft your search string.
The site contains some detailed background pages on certain areas of law like Divorce:
If you sign up, you can have access to your search history and favorite cases.
Overall, AnyLaw has a responsive, pleasant look and feel. It seems well stocked with state and federal caselaw. Some drawbacks: it contains just the basics. No editorial content and lacks a citator. As a comparison, below is a search result from AnyLaw versus Lexis+.
