Why is legal research so hard?

Legal research itself is not typically that difficult. For small firms, what makes it difficult is the expense. Large firms typically pay more money for better research capabilities, which is something small firms are unable to do.

Can a non lawyer do legal research?

Only in rare cases will a non-law student be required to research an area of law as exhaustively as a lawyer must do. Finding one or two law review articles on your topic is a good place to begin. They may even provide you with all the information you need for your project.

What is the star rule in legal research?

Stare decisis is a legal doctrine that obligates courts to follow historical cases when making a ruling on a similar case. Stare decisis requires that cases follow the precedents of other similar cases in similar jurisdictions.

How do I get Lexis for free?

Free Remote Access to Lexis Advance, Courtesy of LexisNexis–Extended Time Frame. The Library continues to partner with LexisNexis during the Covid-19 pandemic in order to provide access to Library Patrons remotely. You can register for a one-time Lexis Advance® ID at https://www.lexisnexis.com/en-us/pa-access.page.

Why do we need legal research?

First, Legal Research helps you focus on the facts of the case, not to mention you can identify the point of law in the disputed issue. Regardless of the complexity of the case, Legal Research will help you give complete answers, examine any statutes and even ensure that all legal matters are handled accordingly.

What is legal research problem?

Likewise, legal research is a scientific investigation into a legal issue or problem and the process of gathering evidence or information for ascertaining an assumption or verifying some hypotheses. …

Is doing legal research the practice of law?

The Unauthorized Practice of Law in California: What Non-Lawyers Can Lawfully Do For Others. Among other things, the “practice of law” includes the drafting of wills and contracts, the conducting of legal research the giving of legal advice, and the selection of legal forms for even routine matters.

How Westlaw cite cases?

The WestlawNEXT database offers a citation tool you can use to easily generate a formatted citation for a legal case. Simply locate your case, highlight the text you plan to cite, and click on the “Copy with Reference” link.

How do I know if my case is unpublished Westlaw?

When you look at a case, generally if there is a NOTICE segment, that case is unpublished. If there is not a NOTICE segment and if there is also no hardcopy cite, it is unreported.

How do I get free access to Westlaw?

Sign up to access Westlaw from home for 20 hours over 14 days. You can either call 1-800-WESTLAW and select “technical support” and an agent will help you set up an account. Hotline is available 24/7. Or you can click on the link to set up an account yourself.

What is Lexis legal research?

Fact: Lexis ® has the largest collection of case law, statutes and regulations. * Plus 40K+ news sources, 83B+ Public Records, 700M+ company profiles and documents, and an extensive list of exclusives across all content types.

Is it better to use Westlaw or LexisNexis for legal research?

Both the tools can be used for legal research, however, using either of them depends upon the practice areas, clients needs and budget. In legal research, depending upon only one tool is not beneficial, to gather all the possible information, both can be used. According to user preferences, Westlaw has occupied the market than Lexisnexis.

Do Delaware courts prefer LexisNexis or Westlaw citations?

The general understanding within the legal community is that Delaware Courts prefer Westlaw citations too, though we are not aware of any formal statements. LexisNexis and Westlaw remain dominant with integrated legal productivity tools for case management, time and billing, practice management and more.

What do LexisNexis and Thomson Reuters offer the legal industry?

Yet following are some important areas in which LexisNexis and Thomson Reuters have entrenched themselves in the legal industry and continue to offer strong advantages: This is the “secret sauce” of legal research software vendors—the way their search engines analyze queries and return relevant results.

How often is LexisNexis reprocessed?

According to LexisNexis, its entire database is reprocessed every 19 hours to incorporate that learning into the algorithm, to keep making connections among the content elements. Similar to LexisNexis, Westlaw’s WestSearch allows search using natural language or with terms and connectors.