IV. Preparing for the Twenty-first Century
. . .
C. Computer Publications
To facilitate wider access to its opinions, the Supreme Court in 1997 adopted a generic numbering system (e.g., 1999 ND 1) for its opinions. The Court now requires use of the generic cite in all trial and appellate briefs.(559)
By installing an Internet web site in 1996,(560) the Court again entered the publishing field. Now, by posting its opinions on the web site the same day they are issued, the Court makes new opinions more quickly available to the legal profession.
The Court's web site came principally through Justice Dale Sandstrom's efforts for the Court. This advance gives the public and practitioners easy and inexpensive access not only to all court opinions issued since 1991, but also to daily news about Court-related activities, a helpful directory of licensed lawyers, and extensive links for legal research.
The American Association of Law Libraries acclaimed the Court's web site as the best judicial web site in the nation.(561) In 1999, the N.D. Court's website was named the number one judicial website worldwide by CTC6, a worldwide court technology conference of 3,000 participants sponsored by the National Center for the State Courts.(562)
Footnotes:
560. See North Dakota Supreme Court News </court/news/NEW1.HTM>.
561. See American Association of Law Libraries <http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/law/lawlib/ aallwg/bestjud.htm>
562. See Results for the CTC6 Top Ten (or so) Web Site Competition <http://CTC6.ncsc.dni.us/ sites/topten.html>