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Am I the only one who think lexis advance is really crappy in comparison to westlaw next?

1. Two user names? Two passwords? Why do I need two separate user names to access lexis.com and lexis advance?
(Westlaw and Westlawnext only require one username)

2. The searches on lexis advance yield pretty crappy results. It sorts the results terribly. Here is a hint lexis: Dont put a Supreme Court case at the top of my search results that the entire opinion reads "Certiorari denied." I am never searching for that case and that is not helpful info for the first page of my search results. Westlaw next gives me extremely relevant search results. It is like the difference between searching on google and using alta vista.

Fix this shit Lexis.

shoeshine wrote:Am I the only one who think lexis advance is really crappy in comparison to westlaw next?

1. Two user names? Two passwords? Why do I need two separate user names to access lexis.com and lexis advance?
(Westlaw and Westlawnext only require one username)

2. The searches on lexis advance yield pretty crappy results. It sorts the results terribly. Here is a hint lexis: Dont put a Supreme Court case at the top of my search results that the entire opinion reads "Certiorari denied." I am never searching for that case and that is not helpful info for the first page of my search results. Westlaw next gives me extremely relevant search results. It is like the difference between searching on google and using alta vista.

Fix this shit Lexis.

Well, the bigger problem is that their servers for Advance are slow as fuck. At school I can download a 2 gig video in easily 5 minutes, but it takes near an entire minute to load one goddamn case off of Lexis Advance.

I haven't even tried Advance yet, I should probably get on that. The issue I have with it (and WestlawNext) is that I'm not entirely sure how widely adopted they'll be by the time I graduate (I'm a 1L). I'd rather not have to relearn standard Westlaw or Lexis, if that's what people use where I work.

Westlaw explicitly said they will be phasing out regular Westlaw, and I think you could reasonably expect to use Westlaw Next by the time you graduate.

westlaw next is seriously the sht.

it has saved me so much time.

I used Lexis prior to law school, but I've switched over to Westlaw. Hopefully I'll never have to look back.

I don't love WestlawNext, only because it doesn't really speed things up for me since I just bypass the big omni-search bar and use the advanced search. And I don't really have a preference between regular Westlaw and Lexis. But I would quit my job, drop out of law school, and go sleep in the gutter if you told me I was going to have to use Lexis Advance. It's a fucking abomination.

kalvano wrote:Westlaw explicitly said they will be phasing out regular Westlaw, and I think you could reasonably expect to use Westlaw Next by the time you graduate.

Then they'll need to lower the price. Most firms look at Next pricing and just LOL

The only advance I'll be using:

ahduth wrote:I haven't even tried Advance yet, I should probably get on that. The issue I have with it (and WestlawNext) is that I'm not entirely sure how widely adopted they'll be by the time I graduate (I'm a 1L). I'd rather not have to relearn standard Westlaw or Lexis, if that's what people use where I work.

Do ANY firms still use regular westlaw?

P.S. Yes, yes, I'm sure that one exists ... somewhere.

I think westlawnext usually charges by the click. Lexis wants a piece of that pricing structure I'm sure. It's not in their interest to make it efficient. Just clickable.

Veyron wrote:

ahduth wrote:I haven't even tried Advance yet, I should probably get on that. The issue I have with it (and WestlawNext) is that I'm not entirely sure how widely adopted they'll be by the time I graduate (I'm a 1L). I'd rather not have to relearn standard Westlaw or Lexis, if that's what people use where I work.

Do ANY firms still use regular westlaw?

P.S. Yes, yes, I'm sure that one exists ... somewhere.

Uh, yes. Many, many firms still use regular Westlaw.

Veyron wrote:

ahduth wrote:I haven't even tried Advance yet, I should probably get on that. The issue I have with it (and WestlawNext) is that I'm not entirely sure how widely adopted they'll be by the time I graduate (I'm a 1L). I'd rather not have to relearn standard Westlaw or Lexis, if that's what people use where I work.

Do ANY firms still use regular westlaw?

P.S. Yes, yes, I'm sure that one exists ... somewhere.

Yes, my NYC V20ish summer firm. And if they are, I'm willing to bet there are plenty more.

Renzo wrote:

Veyron wrote:

ahduth wrote:I haven't even tried Advance yet, I should probably get on that. The issue I have with it (and WestlawNext) is that I'm not entirely sure how widely adopted they'll be by the time I graduate (I'm a 1L). I'd rather not have to relearn standard Westlaw or Lexis, if that's what people use where I work.

Do ANY firms still use regular westlaw?

P.S. Yes, yes, I'm sure that one exists ... somewhere.

Yes, my NYC V20ish summer firm. And if they are, I'm willing to bet there are plenty more.

Yeah, definitely, I've heard of a few anecdotally.

And as to Thomson "phasing out" the original Westlaw to get people to move, good luck with that. Your biggest clients say jump, you jump. Your biggest clients say original Westlaw, you... well you get it.

Renzo wrote:I don't love WestlawNext, only because it doesn't really speed things up for me since I just bypass the big omni-search bar and use the advanced search.

This.

Grizz wrote:

Renzo wrote:I don't love WestlawNext, only because it doesn't really speed things up for me since I just bypass the big omni-search bar and use the advanced search.

This.

What about no databases? Unless I've been missing that in Next (entirely possible).

if we go into transactional work, we don't really need to use westlaw/lexis right?? for the life of me, I have no idea how to use standard westlaw or lexis.

I find it hilarious that people think their employers are going to pay for them to use Westlaw Next. Do you know how much it costs per search???

f0bolous wrote:if we go into transactional work, we don't really need to use westlaw/lexis right?? for the life of me, I have no idea how to use standard westlaw or lexis.

That's what I'm hoping as well. I waste hours searching for what takes other people 1/2 an hour to do.

Holly Golightly wrote:I find it hilarious that people think their employers are going to pay for them to use Westlaw Next. Do you know how much it costs per search???

Not that much more, provided people use it judiciously. A student rep told me the retail price is basically the same as an allfed search, and that buys you results that it returns in the main results window. If you click the sidebars that incurs charges, as does printing/emailing/downloading (just as it currently does).

Eventually they will phase out the old system, but it won't be overnight. It will be after they find a way make the pricing work for everyone, which could be quite some time.

How much Westlaw (and Next) costs is usually a product of the databases in the subscription and the amount of licenses. The per-click pricing is pretty similar from Westlaw to Next.

Renzo wrote:

Veyron wrote:

ahduth wrote:I haven't even tried Advance yet, I should probably get on that. The issue I have with it (and WestlawNext) is that I'm not entirely sure how widely adopted they'll be by the time I graduate (I'm a 1L). I'd rather not have to relearn standard Westlaw or Lexis, if that's what people use where I work.

Do ANY firms still use regular westlaw?

P.S. Yes, yes, I'm sure that one exists ... somewhere.

Yes, my NYC V20ish summer firm. And if they are, I'm willing to bet there are plenty more.

Maybe its a market by market thing. In my secondary, no legal employer that I've spoken to uses anything but westlaw next.

Also, haven't lots of firms/PI orgs negotiated flat-fee arangements for Westlaw Next?

Westlaw and Lexis make firms sign confidentiality agreements about their pricing so a lot of the information just isn't out there and there is likely a good bit of differentiation firm to firm about what is charged.
The only stuff that is out there really is what they charge government things/schools.

omg the WestlawNext research folders are amazing and highlighting...heaven on earth haha - Next just seems so intuitive for me (i'm luck my employer has it now, and I'm happy they'll be phasing out Westlaw/Lexis)

For 90 percent of the research I need to do Westlaw Next Fucking Slays. I sued to be a Lexis man until it came out. That said for the other 10 percent it's probably a 50/50 split between particular databases in westlaw regular or lexis.