Web site buckles under weight of anticipated decision in Woodward trial

Cambridge, Mass. - Judge Hiller B. Zobel may have been making history yesterday when he decided to post his decision in the au pair murder case on the Internet, but he also was making life hell for technicians at Lawyer's Weekly, whose Web site he designated for the decision posting.

As news of the posting spread, the newspaper's Web site suddenly came under attack as untold numbers of 'Net users began looking for the decision - which has yet to be released as of 9:30 a.m. EST. The server, which had already seen a threefold increase in traffic over the past year, was unable to handle the demand.

Late yesterday, the Massachusetts Superior Court said it also would release the decision in the case of Louise Woodward to major press organziations and other Web sites.

Lawyer's Weekly has been posting court decisions on its Web site for years, but usually after the judge has filed a paper copy with the clerk's office, according to Publisher Paul Martinek. Zobel got the idea to use the Internet from his son, according to the Boston Globe.

"We've never known a decision from a trial that has been this anticipated," Martinek said. Zobel decided to give Lawyer's Weekly the exclusive because it was one of the few "not out hunting down the story," he said.

Their crash highlights the need for preparation for posting highly anticipated files. Earlier this year, for example, NASA set up a series of mirror sites around the world to handle the anticipated heavy demand for copies of photos from its Mars mission.

According to court officials, Zobel's Internet release of the decision is a first for Massachusetts.