The process of searching and locating relevant legal information is a challenging endeavor for any researcher. Lawyers, legal secretaries, law librarians, paralegals, law students, and journalists alike must be able to comb through the near-endless supply of legal research and find the information they need in a timely fashion, which is why searchable databases like LexisNexis® have become essential in law firms across the U.S.
What is LexisNexis®?
LexisNexis® is one of the most widely utilized providers of legal-related content, affording customers in more than 175 countries access to billions of documents and records from more than 45,000 news, business, and legal sources. LexisNexis® remains the world’s largest source of public records, forms, unpublished opinions, legal news, and business information.
Through LexisNexis®, paralegals, law students, and more can assemble and analyze research that enables lawyers and other law professionals to make better informed, strategic decisions.
LexisNexis® is the source of many types of information, such as:
- Business Intelligence & CRM: Business Intelligence & CRM provide insight and intelligence into business activities, which helps lawyers and other law professionals better understand their clients and their competition.
- Litigation Research: The Litigation Research Portfolio provides access to a massive collection of court documents, verdicts, and settlements, which allows paralegals, legal secretaries, and law students to gain unique insights on judges, attorneys, and expert witnesses.
- Litigation Solutions: Litigation Solutions provides e-discovery and litigation management solutions.
The Advantages of Becoming an Authority in LexisNexis®
Through the use of LexisNexis® tools and resources, law students, paralegals, lawyers, and legal secretaries are able to:
- Develop timely insights
- Find and validate case law and statutes
- Better understand specific legal practice areas
- Stay current on the latest research; track legal, news, and business updates, legislative and regulatory developments, case law, and more
- Bring together disconnected data points to gain unique insights; assess risk and identify fact patterns
- Find and verify primary law
- Find the most relevant case law and codes for specific jurisdictions and legal practice areas
- Search for content organized by U.S. state and more than 40 areas of practice
Legal research allows lawyers to view the written work of judges, law professors, and colleagues, in addition to public records and other business information, which aids them when making predictions about the direction of changes in the law. Databases such as LexisNexis® prove invaluable to law firms, as they enable legal professionals to find the law, locate important and relevant facts, and apply those facts in a creative and appropriate way.
LexisNexis® allows paralegals, law librarians, and others to increase their research speed and accuracy, thus achieving greater productivity and enhancing work product quality. Legal professionals that possess a strong, working knowledge of LexisNexis® and its research capabilities are poised to earn a reputation as a valuable member of a law firm or other legal environment.
How to Become a Knowledgeable User of LexisNexis®: Earning Certification in LexisNexis Legal Research
Completing a formal certification program in LexisNexis® allows paralegals, law students, legal secretaries and others to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to perform effective legal research.
Graduates of a LexisNexis® research certificate program are prepared to evaluate the credibility of online information and find primary and secondary legal sources using the most effective computer-assisted research methods. Upon graduation from a LexisNexis® research certificate program, legal secretaries, law librarians, and paralegals are able to effectively:
- Navigate the Internet and create effective search statements
- Determine the reliability of sources
- Locate court cases and statutes
- Search and retrieve primary and secondary legal sources and verify the accuracy of citations
- Read and cite legal cases
- Conduct financial and business research
- Local, profile, and investigate individuals and companies
LexisNexis® research certificate programs are designed for both new and existing legal professionals who want to improve their research skills and move forward in their legal career. Offered through vocational, technical, and professional schools, LexisNexis® research certificate programs can be completed in just a couple months, and many are offered entirely online, thus appealing to today’s busy legal professionals.
Courses in a LexisNexis® legal research certification program cover such topics as:
- Internet Basics: Using search engines and email; identifying the best Internet service providers; and uploading/downloading files to the Internet
- Information Literacy: Locating documents within a library; using print reference sources; and recognizing the legal and ethical issues surrounding copyrighted information
- Legal Research: Reading and briefing cases; using citation procedures; and viewing research problems from different angles
- Computer-Assisted Legal Research: Retrieving legal information through computer databases