Recent Changes to LexisNexis

Posted on Posted in Lexis and Westlaw

Sue Altmeyer, Electronic Services Librarian, sue.altmeyer@law.csuohio.edu | September 28, 2007 – 13:26

Recent enhancements to LexisNexis include Fifty State Surveys, Cases in Brief, enhanced linking and searchable noise words.

1. Cases in Brief: Starting Jan. 1, 2008, Lexis will no longer contain ALRs. Lexis created Cases in Brief as a substitute. For selected current significant cases, Cases in Brief provides in-depth analysis of the case, subsequent developments and links to secondary sources and news. To look at an example of a Case in Brief, go to LexisNexis® 2006 us dist lexis 43146 Underneath the “disposition” section of this case, you will see a link for a Case in Brief. You may notice a dollar sign by the Case in Brief link, but law school Lexis accounts are not charged for this service. See Julie Webster-Matthews, LexisNexis Case in Brief: A Research Tool for Today and Beyond, LexisNexis Information Professional Update, Sept. 2007.

2. Fifty State Surveys: This new feature is a great time saver when researching the law in all or multiple states. The Fifty State Surveys provide charts of relevant statutes and regulations for each state on various issues. Go to Legal>States Legal-U.S.>Combined States>Find Statutes & Legislative Materials>LexisNexis 50 State Surveys, Legislation & Regulation. You will see a list of topics. There are dollar signs by the topics, but law school Lexis accounts will not be charged.

 

Another product, called JurisCharts, lists the answers (not just citations) to tax and insurance questions for the fifty states. JurisCharts are available via:

 

 

Legal>Area of Law by Topic>Taxation>Find State Materials>Multistate Sources> LexisNexis Jurischarts with Analysis: Tax

Legal>Area of Law by Topic>Insurance>Field Insurance Compliance Materials>LexisNexis Jurischarts with Analysis: Insurance

For more information, see the article: Fifty-State Legislative and Regulatory Surveys Now Available from LexisNexis

3. Searching for Noise Words: Noise words such “at”, “from” and “of” were previously not searchable in Lexis. Now, they can be searched if the noise word is places in quotes, or a phrase containing the noise word is in quotes, for example “power of attorney”. See LexisNexis Knowledge Base: Noise Words.

4. Enhanced Linking: The names of attorneys, judges and corporations are linked in opinions. Clicking on the links for judges and attorneys will yield biographies, Courtlink profiles and relevant cases. For attorneys, look at the counsel segment and for judges look at the judges, opinion by, concur by or dissent by segments. The links for companies will provide links to SEC filings, profiles, relevant cases and news.

5. Search by Topic or Headnote: The Search Advisor tab is now located under the search tab, and is called “by topic or headnote.” The “Search by Topic or Headnote” tab will allow one to browse a hierarchical list of legal topics and search by headnote.

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