Lexis or Westlaw:Which one's better and for what? Forum

(Study Tips, Dealing With Stress, Maintaining a Social Life, Financial Aid, Internships, Bar Exam, Careers in Law . . . )
Post Reply
User avatar
Ferrisjso

Gold
Posts: 2149
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2014 5:40 pm

Lexis or Westlaw:Which one's better and for what?

Post by Ferrisjso » Mon Oct 02, 2017 8:58 pm

Pretty self explanatory title. In a Westlaw seminar I was in, someone asked which was better for what tasks, and as expected the question was dodged(more Weslaw talking points, which I can't really blame her for, it's her job but I still wanted to know the answer to the question). I am curious, which one do you prefer and why? Are there certain tasks that you'd prefer one for over the other, is one better for certain practices or law school in general? I'd prefer to predominately use one and would prefer not have to go through the trouble of trial and error.

Note: I just want to let everyone know that I just want to hear answers to the question/discussion of the topic and don't want any trouble with anyone for unrelated reasons.

Hope this is helpful to any other 1L's with similar questions and concerns!

User avatar
UVA2B

Gold
Posts: 3570
Joined: Sun May 22, 2016 10:48 pm

Re: Lexis or Westlaw:Which one's better and for what?

Post by UVA2B » Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:10 pm

I used Lexis during 1L legal research, and it worked just fine. Then my firm during the summer after 1L used Westlaw exclusively, so I got used to it and now it's all I use.

There aren't things that are better/worse between the two honestly. But you should pick one that feels intuitive for you (get used to shepardizing in that database, how to navigate and generate search terms that get the results you're looking for, and ultimately feel intuitive for the research you're doing).

It might not seem immediately clear, but these are just two companies competing for market share in legal research, and they're pulling from the same resources. If Lexis seems easier to use, run with it.

Having used both, neither is better than the other for legal research, but your familiarity with one system over the other will make it easier for you to use. Just pick a database and learn it. That will far outweigh any perceived differences in the two services.

User avatar
mjb447

Silver
Posts: 1419
Joined: Fri Jul 26, 2013 4:36 am

Re: Lexis or Westlaw:Which one's better and for what?

Post by mjb447 » Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:13 pm

What you use in the long run may be dictated by what your employer prefers, so you'll want to be familiar with both. The most relevant cases will be available on both, but I guess there are some differences in the treatises. (I also found Lexis better for getting free stuff, but I don't know if that's still the case.)

User avatar
Mullens

Silver
Posts: 1138
Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2013 1:34 am

Re: Lexis or Westlaw:Which one's better and for what?

Post by Mullens » Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:17 pm

Many law students will develop preferences in law school and then employers also have preferences/preferred providers. I've also liked westlaw way better and find it easier to use. I have friends that religiously used lexis in law school for the rewards program.

User avatar
jchiles

Silver
Posts: 1269
Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2012 4:49 pm

Re: Lexis or Westlaw:Which one's better and for what?

Post by jchiles » Mon Oct 02, 2017 10:15 pm

Lexis sucks even with the rewards

Want to continue reading?

Register now to search topics and post comments!

Absolutely FREE!


User avatar
mjb447

Silver
Posts: 1419
Joined: Fri Jul 26, 2013 4:36 am

Re: Lexis or Westlaw:Which one's better and for what?

Post by mjb447 » Mon Oct 02, 2017 10:18 pm

jchiles wrote:Lexis sucks even with the rewards
Gotta go to those lunchtime "trainings" so you get the points (and free pizza) without having to use it.

User avatar
Ferrisjso

Gold
Posts: 2149
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2014 5:40 pm

Re: Lexis or Westlaw:Which one's better and for what?

Post by Ferrisjso » Mon Oct 02, 2017 10:23 pm

Mullens wrote:Many law students will develop preferences in law school and then employers also have preferences/preferred providers. I've also liked westlaw way better and find it easier to use. I have friends that religiously used lexis in law school for the rewards program.
I've heard about this.

Thanks everyone for all the helpful replies! Going to be using Westlaw for my first research assignment and will be learning the ins and out of Lexis on Wednesday!

LawyerSawyer102

New
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Sep 05, 2017 11:23 pm

Re: Lexis or Westlaw:Which one's better and for what?

Post by LawyerSawyer102 » Mon Oct 02, 2017 10:36 pm

Lexis does better job with case briefs - better summaries of casse and nice graphic representation of procedural history and citing history.

Westlaw has cleaner organization and better readability. Westlaw's search algorithm is more superior (gets you more releavant results).

I prefer Westlaw overall.

User avatar
A. Nony Mouse

Diamond
Posts: 29293
Joined: Tue Sep 25, 2012 11:51 am

Re: Lexis or Westlaw:Which one's better and for what?

Post by A. Nony Mouse » Mon Oct 02, 2017 10:36 pm

jchiles wrote:Lexis sucks even with the rewards
Amen brother.

Want to continue reading?

Register for access!

Did I mention it was FREE ?


AZ123

New
Posts: 91
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2015 10:08 pm

Re: Lexis or Westlaw:Which one's better and for what?

Post by AZ123 » Mon Oct 02, 2017 10:56 pm

I prefer Westlaw personally, but lexis lets law students keep using their services for free during summer jobs which is a nice perk. (I'm sure you could still use your student Westlaw account for summer job stuff but I think they explicitly say it's not allowed).

User avatar
A. Nony Mouse

Diamond
Posts: 29293
Joined: Tue Sep 25, 2012 11:51 am

Re: Lexis or Westlaw:Which one's better and for what?

Post by A. Nony Mouse » Mon Oct 02, 2017 11:07 pm

Westlaw lets you use their services for unpaid jobs (with government/non-profit) or for classes/law review, just not for firms, and your firms shouldn't be mooching off student accounts anyway.

User avatar
esq

Silver
Posts: 591
Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2010 9:59 pm

Re: Lexis or Westlaw:Which one's better and for what?

Post by esq » Mon Oct 02, 2017 11:24 pm

I haven't used Lexis much since law school, but Westlaw is great for everything as far as U.S. practice goes. However, Lexis had way more resources when it came to international legal research. Way more. I'm not sure if that has changed since 2014.

User avatar
cavalier1138

Moderator
Posts: 8007
Joined: Fri Mar 25, 2016 8:01 pm

Re: Lexis or Westlaw:Which one's better and for what?

Post by cavalier1138 » Tue Oct 03, 2017 5:48 am

esq wrote:I haven't used Lexis much since law school, but Westlaw is great for everything as far as U.S. practice goes. However, Lexis had way more resources when it came to international legal research. Way more. I'm not sure if that has changed since 2014.
I mean, they both kind of suck for any in-depth international research, especially once you get outside the UK or Canada.

But to answer the original question, West is faster and much more reliable. On the other hand, Lexis gives you free shit for using an objectively worse service.

Register now!

Resources to assist law school applicants, students & graduates.

It's still FREE!


Thesaurus

Silver
Posts: 714
Joined: Fri Aug 18, 2017 8:49 am

Re: Lexis or Westlaw:Which one's better and for what?

Post by Thesaurus » Tue Oct 03, 2017 6:13 am

How do people feel about Bloomberg? Does anyone use it? I haven't used it at all since the meeting where they gave us passwords, but there seemed to be some distinctive features about it that the other two don't have. Like the ability to look up firms by the clients they represent or the types of matters they represent in federal court, or looking up corporations by the firms that represent them.

User avatar
cavalier1138

Moderator
Posts: 8007
Joined: Fri Mar 25, 2016 8:01 pm

Re: Lexis or Westlaw:Which one's better and for what?

Post by cavalier1138 » Tue Oct 03, 2017 6:52 am

Thesaurus wrote:How do people feel about Bloomberg? Does anyone use it? I haven't used it at all since the meeting where they gave us passwords, but there seemed to be some distinctive features about it that the other two don't have. Like the ability to look up firms by the clients they represent or the types of matters they represent in federal court, or looking up corporations by the firms that represent them.
I feel like the rep who presented at our school was the world's biggest asshole. But it's useless for case research. Maybe ok for firm lookup or some contract tools.

NoDayButToday

Silver
Posts: 1473
Joined: Fri Nov 22, 2013 9:34 pm

Re: Lexis or Westlaw:Which one's better and for what?

Post by NoDayButToday » Tue Oct 03, 2017 9:04 am

.
Last edited by NoDayButToday on Wed Nov 01, 2017 12:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

RaceJudicata

Gold
Posts: 1867
Joined: Mon Jun 22, 2015 2:51 pm

Re: Lexis or Westlaw:Which one's better and for what?

Post by RaceJudicata » Sun Oct 15, 2017 1:40 pm

NoDayButToday wrote:
Thesaurus wrote:How do people feel about Bloomberg? Does anyone use it? I haven't used it at all since the meeting where they gave us passwords, but there seemed to be some distinctive features about it that the other two don't have. Like the ability to look up firms by the clients they represent or the types of matters they represent in federal court, or looking up corporations by the firms that represent them.
I like Bloomberg for the docket feature. Cleaner presentation than PACER.

Between Westlaw and Lexis, I'd say I prefer Westlaw for the clean regional reporter PDF downloads, and just visual presentation. I find it harder to see where the opinion begins in Lexis. Otherwise, the rewards were kind of fun andI usually found the same results with both, so...maybe not a huge difference.
Bloomberg dockets are fantastic - and free for law students.

Get unlimited access to all forums and topics

Register now!

I'm pretty sure I told you it's FREE...


User avatar
BVest

Platinum
Posts: 7887
Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2012 1:51 pm

Re: Lexis or Westlaw:Which one's better and for what?

Post by BVest » Mon Oct 16, 2017 2:15 pm

Westlaw is better, but Lexis has a better (and, starting my 2L year, the only) law student rewards points program. Cop those amazon gift cards while you can. Then switch to Westlaw for work.

(Sadly, my current employer uses Lexis exclusively).
Last edited by BVest on Sat Jan 27, 2018 1:27 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Ferrisjso

Gold
Posts: 2149
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2014 5:40 pm

Re: Lexis or Westlaw:Which one's better and for what?

Post by Ferrisjso » Wed Nov 08, 2017 10:31 pm

BVest wrote:Westlaw is better, but Lexis has a better (and, starting my 2L year, the only) law student rewards points program. Cop those amazon gift cards while you can. Then switch to Westlaw for work.

(Sadly, my current employer uses Lexis exclusively).
I've come to the conclusion that you are correct.

GreenEggs

Gold
Posts: 3592
Joined: Fri Oct 03, 2014 11:55 pm

Re: Lexis or Westlaw:Which one's better and for what?

Post by GreenEggs » Wed Nov 08, 2017 10:38 pm

I don't know if it's still the case, but for awhile Lexis was the only one with NYLJ opinions, which made it far superior imo than WestLaw
Last edited by GreenEggs on Fri Jan 26, 2018 8:27 pm, edited 2 times in total.

joanneofarc

New
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2017 9:57 pm

Re: Lexis or Westlaw:Which one's better and for what?

Post by joanneofarc » Thu Nov 09, 2017 1:48 am

Westlaw is better for everything.

Communicate now with those who not only know what a legal education is, but can offer you worthy advice and commentary as you complete the three most educational, yet challenging years of your law related post graduate life.

Register now, it's still FREE!


albanach

Gold
Posts: 1986
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2008 10:05 pm

Re: Lexis or Westlaw:Which one's better and for what?

Post by albanach » Thu Nov 09, 2017 2:14 pm

RaceJudicata wrote: Bloomberg dockets are fantastic - and free for law students.
Yes, Bloomberg is awesome for tracking cases and giving you effectively free access to PACER for the duration of law school. That can be useful for clinics. It's certainly worth signing up if your school offers it.

RaceJudicata

Gold
Posts: 1867
Joined: Mon Jun 22, 2015 2:51 pm

Re: Lexis or Westlaw:Which one's better and for what?

Post by RaceJudicata » Thu Nov 09, 2017 8:08 pm

albanach wrote:
RaceJudicata wrote: Bloomberg dockets are fantastic - and free for law students.
Yes, Bloomberg is awesome for tracking cases and giving you effectively free access to PACER for the duration of law school. That can be useful for clinics. It's certainly worth signing up if your school offers it.
And 6 months afterward (and I’m beyond six months and it still works for me... shhh)

doggozeg

New
Posts: 48
Joined: Sun Jul 16, 2017 6:22 pm

Re: Lexis or Westlaw:Which one's better and for what?

Post by doggozeg » Thu Nov 09, 2017 9:45 pm

I get Bloomberg at my school but haven't found immense use yet with it as a 1L. I prefer Westlaw in general, but I like the Shepardize feature of Lexis a lot.
Last edited by doggozeg on Sat Jan 27, 2018 11:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

dabigchina

Gold
Posts: 1845
Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2014 2:22 am

Re: Lexis or Westlaw:Which one's better and for what?

Post by dabigchina » Thu Nov 09, 2017 10:03 pm

jchiles wrote:Lexis sucks even with the rewards
This. For example, I tried to find a HLR article on Lexis. Couldn't find it after putting the exact blue book citation into the search bar. Switched to Westlaw and found it in a second.

Lexis is just broken as fuck. I have no idea why they can't improve. It's not like searching text is some newfangled technology that nobody understands how to master.
doggozeg wrote:I get Bloomberg at my school but haven't found immense use yet with it as a 1L. I prefer Westlaw in general, but I like the Shepardize feature of Lexis a lot.
I dont know anybody who uses bloomberg.

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

Now there's a charge.
Just kidding ... it's still FREE!


Post Reply

Return to “Forum for Law School Students”