I previously blogged about LexisNexis Courtlink. From the Law Library Blog I see that CourtLink now offers these alerts hourly:

LexisNexis® Legal & Professional (www.lexisnexis.com), a leading provider of content and technology solutions, today announced that its CourtLink® service now offers hourly alerts on newly filed federal cases – making it the only court docket service to offer hourly alerts in all US District courts, along with the complaint document with highlighted user keywords.

“Since the economic downturn, law firms have been facing increasingly tougher competition to connect with prospects and clients quickly when important court actions occur so they can be assigned to the case,” said Eliana Ferreira, director of product planning for dockets, briefs, pleadings and motions at LexisNexis Legal & Professional. “CourtLink hourly alerts considerably increase lawyers’ chances of earning business and keeping clients by giving them the fastest access to new case filings so they can act before their competitors.”

LexisNexis® CourtLink® connects lawyers and other legal professionals to the industry’s largest, most comprehensive collection of U.S. federal and state court dockets, including content from all federal district courts ranging from 1989 to the present.

According to results of the ABA 2011 Legal Technology Survey report, more than two-thirds of lawyers in the largest U.S. law firms check their case alert services at least every day. The new, customizableCourtLink hourly alerts exceed this demand by delivering alerts for all U.S. District court civil cases every hour. Further, users can enhance their alerts with keywords found in the case complaints to highlight cases of interest. This unique feature is designed to help eliminate the need to retrieve and pay for unnecessary case filings.

“Adding to speed of delivery, CourtLink hourly alerts further help lawyers respond effectively to potential business because there are no limitations on the number of ‘Natures of Suit’ or courts that can be included. Additionally, there are no restrictions on the ability to share alerts regardless of whether colleagues have access to CourtLink,” said Ferreira.

I wonder how effective the “keyword” search is. For party or product names it may be helpful, but for common legal terms, there might well be a deluge. I need to get my hands on this product to play around with it. Something I’m sure a professorship will allow me to do. Heh.