For controversial litigation, a site like this has the potential to provide real numbers for the debate and to keep the debate focused on what is really happening, not what people merely believe to be true. The success of such sites is likely to promote ideas like requiring electronic filings in court cases, especially in areas where public policy disputes over the effect and value of litigation traditionally have flared. Another potential effect of such sites is increased pressure towards the standardization of pleadings and forms. The move towards standardization might first come voluntarily, as lawyers borrow from good examples within the database as they create the file documents. Courts also may push lawyers in that direction.
Information is easier to compare case to case if everyone is using the same form.
Forms already have become common in some areas of practice, such as probate and guardianship, where oversight by the Court is facilitated by requiring counsel to answer questions about the case. Artful pleadings can obscure information. Forms can flesh it out. This new Stanford site is likely to chart a course that we all might eventually find ourselves following.