Legal Solutions  Blog

(Editor’s note: This is a repost of a Tip of the Week published on May 28, 2012.  Because of its popularity, we are publishing it again). Send WestlawNext ® documents to your Kindle ™ and conveniently take your research with you wherever you go, without wasting paper. Documents are formatted to provide a reading experience that’s optimized for [...]

Statutes can be impacted by recently enacted or proposed legislation, as well as case treatments. For this reason, it is critical to routinely validate any statute that you rely on for legal advice or cite as precedent. This tip explains how to use KeyCite ® to check your statute citations and proceed with confidence that your authorities [...]

Use KeyCite ® to view the direct history of a case in an easy-to-read graphical display. Graphical KeyCite traces the case through the appellate process and places every reversal, rehearing, reconsideration, or other case proceeding in context. This feature can be a huge time-saver when you need to know how a case has moved through the court [...]

Since the legal standing or authority of a case can change over time, it is important to verify that the cases you cite as precedent are still valid. This tip explains how to use KeyCite ® to check your caselaw citations and proceed with confidence that your authorities are good law. KeyCite Status Flags Begin by accessing KeyCite and [...]

Use KeyCite ® to help you determine whether a case, statute, administrative decision, or regulation is good law, and to retrieve citing references. KeyCite is the legal industry’s most accurate, up-to-the-minute citation service, providing: Current information : Caselaw direct history and precedential changes are available within 24 hours Complete headnotes : Quickly limit your citing references to a relevant point of [...]

Send WestlawNext ® documents to your Kindle ™ and conveniently take your research with you wherever you go, without wasting paper. Documents are formatted to provide a reading experience that’s optimized for Kindle, including the ability to adjust the text size and font to suit your reading preference. To send one or more WestlawNext documents to your Kindle [...]

Did you know that your WestlawNext ® subscription includes unlimited access to Reference Attorneys, the industry’s premier team of legal research assistance professionals? Every Reference Attorney is a bar-admitted attorney and online research expert with a deep understanding of WestlawNext features, functionality, and content. They can help you refine your search query, find a specific law or [...]

The West Key Number System® organizes the universe of caselaw into topics (e.g., Contracts, Criminal Law, Patents, etc). Each of those topics is then further organized and subdivided into individual points of law called Key Numbers.     For example, in the Contracts topic, there is a subdevelopment (I) called Requisites and Validity . Within that subdevelopment there is a [...]

The West Key Number System® is one of the most important components of WestSearch®, the world’s most advanced legal search engine. Because our attorney-editors have been reading, summarizing, and classifying the law for over 100 years, WestSearch can identify the topics of law best represented by your search terms, and return highly relevant documents for those topics – [...]

The West Key Number System ® is the master classification system of U.S. law and widely regarded as the cornerstone of effective legal research. For over 100 years, West Topic and Key Numbers have offered legal researchers a convenient way to hone in on a particular legal issue and quickly find on-point cases.   Why Use the West [...]

Did you know that West attorney-editors have been editing, organizing, and classifying the law for over 100 years? Under the West Key Number System ®, every legal issue in a case published by West is identified and summarized in a headnote. Each headnote is then classified under one or more Topic and Key Numbers.   This arrangement [...]

WestlawNext® makes it easy for you to organize and repurpose your research by creating folders and saving important documents in them . Now, you can boost your productivity and improve collaboration even more by adding descriptions to folders and saved documents. Add descriptions in folders to: indicate the context or significance of the folder or documents saved to it provide a [...]

The new WestlawNext® Resource Center offers a fresh new look and a one-stop-shop for learning and support resources. Visit the website today for your chance to win a new tablet computer (for use with the award-winning WestlawNext iPad ® app, of course) and for information that will help you maximize your WestlawNext subscription. Log in to the WestlawNext research [...]

There’s nothing worse than citing law that has been overruled or changed. Stay on top of it with KeyCite ® – where you can easily find the validity of a law on a moment’s notice. Whether you’re in a courtroom or a conference room, you can access WestlawNext® on your smartphone and have the most complete, accurate, and [...]

Combine your smartphone with WestlawNext ® Mobile and you can do legal research just about anywhere. Whether you’re researching during your subway commute, using KeyCite ® in court to check your opponent’s case, or working at an off-site client meeting, WestlawNext Mobile puts the most comprehensive collection of legal information right at your fingertips. Begin by accessing WestlawNext from your [...]

Legal opinions and publications commonly contain multiple pages and discuss many issues. As a result, pinpoint citations – references to a specific location in a multipage work – are used pervasively in legal writing. Luckily, WestlawNext ® automatically recognizes pinpoint citations and can take you directly to the exact page you need. Find by Pinpoint Citation To retrieve [...]

My Content is a new tool that lets you know exactly what’s in your subscription. Now you can proceed with confidence knowing what content is included in your WestlawNext ® plan. Accessing My Content The My Content feature is available from the WestlawNext home page: Click on the Tools tab. Click on My Content (displayed below the Subscriber Pricing Guide). Using the My [...]

Finding the content of a database or a publication is easy in WestlawNext ®. This week’s tip explains how to get to the content you want from the search box and add it to your Favorites on the home page, where it’s always accessible in one click. Suggestions from the Search Box To get started, just type a few [...]

Retrieving a document with a known citation is an important part of the legal research process. Frequently, researchers simply want to read a document online. Other times, researchers have citations to one or more documents they want to review offline. With WestlawNext ®, these tasks are quick and easy. Retrieve a Document by Citation Enter a citation in [...]

We’re starting 2012 with six of our customers’ favorite tips from 2011. Here’s this week’s “top tip” … Folder sharing has evolved to the next level! First, WestlawNext ® increased your productivity and efficiency by helping you share your research within your organization. Now, you can share folders outside your organization and tap into the collective knowledge [...]