[blindLaw] Point of having Westlaw and/or LexusNexus

[MIKE MCGLASHON]

I would also add here that west and lexis are becoming the official
reporters in some states such as Illinois and Indiana; (who has no official
reporter at all anymore; they use west as their official reporter now).

Second, one thing you get with west and lexis is codified statutes; lexis
and west also provide top cases that correspond to the statute you are
looking at.

I would worry that other sources may not be able to show the most current
statutes, and may not be able to provide matching cases for those statutes.

Third, west and lexis provide boiler plate forms for motions and pleadings
that other less sophisticated sources may not be able to do.

Just my two cents worth;

By the way, I just finished the Illinois Bar the other day.

So, don't take my word on anything.


Please advise as you like.

Mike M.

Mike mcglashon
Email: Michael.mcglashon at comcast.net
Ph: 618 783 9331

-----Original Message-----
From: BlindLaw <blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Michal Nowicki via
BlindLaw
Sent: Sunday, July 31, 2022 1:07 PM
To: 'Blind Law Mailing List' <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Michal Nowicki <mnowicki4 at icloud.com>
Subject: Re: [blindLaw] Point of having Westlaw and/or LexusNexus

Thomas,

Google and other popular free search engines are no match for a dedicated
legal database like Westlaw or LexisNexis, especially for case law research.
These databases are very useful - and sometimes essential - for verifying
whether a particular court decision is still good law; this obviously cannot
be done from the text of a court opinion alone. Additionally, legal
databases offer very advanced searching and results filtering and sorting
functionalities you won't find elsewhere. Furthermore, Westlaw and
LexisNexis both offer robust editorial annotations for statutes,
regulations, and other primary sources. Those are just a few tremendous
advantages of these legal databases that make the cost worthwhile for many
practitioners.

For attorneys who work on a tight budget, however, there are several cheaper
alternatives, among them Casetext, Fastcase, and Casemaker (which apparently
has recently merged with Fastcase). Most state bar associations offer
complementary access to one of these alternative databases to their members.
These cheaper alternatives do not offer all the benefits of Westlaw or
LexisNexis, but are still much more powerful than free online searches.

Hope this helps.

Michal

-----Original Message-----
From: BlindLaw <blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Thomas Dukeman via
BlindLaw
Sent: Sunday, July 31, 2022 7:52 AM
To: 'Blind Law Mailing List' <BlindLaw at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Thomas Dukeman <ThomasDukeman at outlook.com>
Subject: [blindLaw] Point of having Westlaw and/or LexusNexus

Hello fellow legal beagles!

I was wondering what the point of having those two legal databases was? I
mean is there any information in those databases I couldn't get access to
any other way or that it is just a more efficient way to find law related
information then just trying to look it up on your own with google? I know
that many law firms through out the US at least use them but that the
license for it can be pretty expensive to keep up sometimes so I was just
trying to understand if the whole point of using something expensive was
because it is the only way to get important information or that is just what
we have gotten used to using?

Thanks for your time in advance,
Tom

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