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Starting for my firm tomorrow. Firm only uses Lexis. I have been Westlaw NEXT dependent all year. Why cant Lexis just do what West Law NEXT does and just let you type of a phrase like "Man hit with golf ball" and spit out negligence cases in a given jurisidiction relating to golf accidents? I know how to Sheperdize and find cases with a citation, but what and how am I searching if given an assignment?

End Rant. But seriously, hate Lexis.

Does your firm at least have an unlimited access plan? It would really suck to have the pressure of having to learn Lexis while thinking you're running up massive bills.

If they do have such a plan, it probably won't be that bad figuring everything out. Did your LRW class TA's hand out printed tutorials? Maybe look those over.

At my old firm, I did free Lexis training with a rep over the phone.

goodolgil wrote:Does your firm at least have an unlimited access plan? It would really suck to have the pressure of having to learn Lexis while thinking you're running up massive bills.

If they do have such a plan, it probably won't be that bad figuring everything out. Did your LRW class TA's hand out printed tutorials? Maybe look those over.

Don't know if its unlimited or transactional. First question I ask. If its transactional that would really suck.

BarbellDreams wrote:Starting for my firm tomorrow. Firm only uses Lexis. I have been Westlaw NEXT dependent all year. Why cant Lexis just do what West Law NEXT does and just let you type of a phrase like "Man hit with golf ball" and spit out negligence cases in a given jurisidiction relating to golf accidents? I know how to Sheperdize and find cases with a citation, but what and how am I searching if given an assignment?

End Rant. But seriously, hate Lexis.

FYI, even if your firm had Westlaw Next, and you did that, it would cost so much it would likely get you a talking to. That's why firms don't have Next--it tricks you into running the most expensive searches anyone could ever dream up, and running them more often than you need.

I know this is silly, but when I was doing research last summer as a judicial intern, I'd use books (mostly local jurisdiction digests) as a starting point, then moved forward on Lexis, etc. Saved me an incredible amount of time.

That having been said, that doesn't really answer OP, so I guess my suggestion is to get familiar with Lexis boolean search terms, and fast? If you have a particularly complicated search query, doesn't Lexis have a free hotline/webchat or something that will create a query for you?

just use the tutorials on the homepage there are a ton of them, and by doing them you get gift cards and shit

ak362 wrote:I know this is silly, but when I was doing research last summer as a judicial intern, I'd use books (mostly local jurisdiction digests) as a starting point, then moved forward on Lexis, etc. Saved me an incredible amount of time.

That having been said, that doesn't really answer OP, so I guess my suggestion is to get familiar with Lexis boolean search terms, and fast? If you have a particularly complicated search query, doesn't Lexis have a free hotline/webchat or something that will create a query for you?

All of this is credited. Starting with books, then calling the 800-number is the best way to not look like an ass when you do research.

If your firm is large enough to have a Lexis rep, meet with them to go over cost-effective searching. We had a mandatory session today and it was actually helpful. Otherwise, call the 800 number (it should be free) and they'll send you a basic search result. Look through the results to get information/an idea of search terms you could use. Do NOT use Shepard's (just my opinion) because it costs like $7.50 (which isn't bad), but there's an additional $12.50 cost for every case you click on. You can get the same results by effectively using the search function ($75 for state cases) and then focusing through those cases (no charge, and no charge for clicking on cases within your original search results). Just so you know, Lexis is coming out with something similar to Westlaw Next in the fall, firms likely won't use it much though because it's so expensive. Though I was told Lexis will not charge additional fees for use of its new program.

It astounds me why anyone would use Lexis or Westlaw now that Westlaw Next exists. It's like lugging around an Apple II instead of an iPad.

downstream wrote:It astounds me why anyone would use Lexis or Westlaw now that Westlaw Next exists. It's like lugging around an Apple II instead of an iPad.

Ask your firm if they want to pay for you using Westlaw Next.

Stanford4Me wrote:

downstream wrote:It astounds me why anyone would use Lexis or Westlaw now that Westlaw Next exists. It's like lugging around an Apple II instead of an iPad.

Ask your firm if they want to pay for you using Westlaw Next.

Seriously. It's more like taking a fleet of limousines instead of the subway.

Ethics(?) question. Couldn't whatever learning you do, just do it on your school account on your own free time?

Mickey Quicknumbers wrote:Ethics(?) question. Couldn't whatever learning you do, just do it on your school account on your own free time?

Yes, absolutely. One of the acceptable summer uses of Lexis is practice/learning.