Bob Ambrogi has a nice preview of the new Fastcase iPhone App that will be available soon.

He focuses on the functionality of the app, but not to be overlooked is the price plan: free.  As in, search the full Fastcase database and access its content for free.  And the app itself is free, too.  On the heels of the availability of Google Scholar’s collection of free US case law, it looks like we have entered an era in which nobody will be able to charge money simply for access to primary legal documents. Fastcase, as a provider of case law whose price point was, shall we say, closer to free than other legal research providers, is arguably more threatened than either Westlaw or Lexis by Google’s push into the field. With this move, Fastcase is showing that it’s not out to play defense in the mobile space. (On Google’s move, see Winners, Losers, and Other Implications of Case Law on Google Scholar).

The full Web version of Fastcase, with its additional tools and bells and whistles, will continue to be a fee-based service.  In effect, Fastcase is content to use the iPhone app as a marketing tool for to the full-featured and full-priced Web version.  West’s and Lexis’ mobile apps to date include Black’s Law Dictionary at $49.99, and Lexis’ Get Cases and Sheparize app requires a paid subscription to use. Fastcase is attempting to seize some high ground on the mobile space by offering more for less.

This move could cause the activity around mobile content apps for lawyers to heat up a bit.