One of the most desirable features of the Internet is its ability to quickly disseminate the most recent news and information to its users. The ISBA capitalizes on this feature to provide its members with reports on recent decisions, articles and other valuable practice information. Through its case digest service, ISBA members can receive information on recent decisions throughout Illinois and in the Seventh Circuit Federal Court of Appeals via email updates automatically sent to your computer. For decisions and information more specifically oriented to particular practice areas, the ISBA offers practice updates to those who are members of the various practice area sections. The general areas of practice include trial practice, real estate/probate, business law, family law and criminal law. Log onto www.isba.org and look for the "ISBA Interactive" section on the left side of the ISBA's homepage, where you can sign up for both services.

In an earlier In-sites article, information was provided about a Web site that provides information on the professional status of physicians. (www.dpr.state.il.us/ licenselookup/default.htm.) Another place to obtain information on the disciplinary histories of many U.S.-licensed physicians is www.docinfo.org. Developed by the Federation of State Medical Boards, the site claims to be the single most comprehensive site for obtaining physician disciplinary information. The database contains information on over 115,000 state medical board actions against physicians dating back to the 1940's in some cases. There is a charge to obtain information from this site. Information concerning the verification of credentials of individual physicians can be obtained from the Federation of State Medical Boards Web site at www.drdata.org.

FirstGov, a Web site providing information and links to various federal government sites for a number of years, has expanded its site to cover state and local government. Go to http://firstgov.gov/state_gov/state.html and you can find links to various state Web site homepages and other sites involving state government.

Looking for guidance on an ethical issue in your practice? Ethics-related articles, excerpts from continuing legal education materials and new ethics opinions from around the nation can be found at http://www.legalethics.com/. Both state and federal ethics opinions and issues are covered in this site.

Do you have any savings bonds you received as a kid in your drawer or safe deposit box and wonder what they are worth? Are you interested in learning about the various savings bonds and purchase options available? Check out http://www.savingsbond.gov/ where you can calculate the value of any bonds you have, learn about bond purchase options and use savings calculators to help make financial decisions.