Category Archives: Westlaw

Summer use of Westlaw, Lexis, and Bloomberg Law

Wondering which research tools you can use this summer?  We have outlined summer access policies for Westlaw, Lexis, and Bloomberg Law below.  Remember that you also have unlimited access to hundreds of other legal databases and interdisciplinary databases through the Law Library and ASU this summer!

Westlaw
Westlaw offers limited summer research access – up to 40 hours a month for June and July.  Full access is available to students who are participating in select academic pursuits over the summer. If you will be doing any of the following, you can apply to extend your full access to Westlaw by using the Summer Extension link inside Westlaw:

  • Summer law school classes and study abroad programs
  • Law review and journal – including write-on competitions
  • Research assistant
  • Moot court
  • Unpaid internship/externship

Students with any other type of summer employment must use their employer-provided password for Westlaw access. Full academic access resumes to returning students on August 1, 2016.

Graduating students: Westlaw’s Graduate Elite program allows you to apply for limited Westlaw access for 6 months after graduation.  Use the Grad Elite link within your Westlaw account to apply for the program.

Lexis
Lexis provides unrestricted summer access to all law students for any research purpose, whether academic or commercial.  You do not need to take any additional steps to secure summer access to your registered Lexis Advance account.

Graduating students: Graduating students will automatically have full access to Lexis through the end of November.  You do not need to take any additional steps to secure this post-graduation access.

Bloomberg Law
Bloomberg Law also provides unrestricted summer access to all law students for any research purpose, whether academic or commercial.  You do not need to take any additional steps to secure summer access to your registered Bloomberg Law account.

Graduating students: Graduating students will automatically have full access to Bloomberg Law for six months after graduation.  You do not need to take any additional steps to secure this post-graduation access.

Free Access to Electronic Study Aids and a Promo Code

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The Ross-Blakley Law Library is pleased to provide you with online access to hundreds of study aids to help you prepare for your upcoming exams through West Academic.  Our subscription to these study aids allows you to view hundreds of electronic books 24/7, as well as highlight text, take and save notes, and even print content.

Through January 31, 2016 West Academic is also offering ASU students 25% off any print study aids product ordered through the West Academic Store (store.westacademic.com). Use promo code: UPANDRUNNING

We wish you all the best this exam period!

Reset Your Westlaw Password Now

 

With the New Year, you will need a new Westlaw password!  Westlaw just announced that all academic users will be required to update their passwords within the next few weeks.  By changing your password now you can avoid being temporarily locked out of your Westlaw account.

Follow these steps to change your password:
Log into lawschool.westlaw.com
Click the blue “Update” link to the right of your name
Then click the blue “ Manage OnePass Profile” button
Enter and re-enter a new password
Click the “Save” button

If you have any questions about the process, please contact Westlaw Customer Support at 1-800-850-WEST (9378) and select the Password option.

West Study Aids Available Online to All College of Law Students

West Study Aids are available online to all Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law students. Gilbert Law Summaries, Concise Hornbooks, Nutshells, Sum & Substance Quick Reviews, Exam Pro Series, and others covering more than 350 areas of law are available

To access the online collection, go to http://eproducts.westlaw.com/LearnMore/StudyAidsHome.aspx

You will need to login to your Westlaw account to gain access to the collection. A link to the study aids is also available under the Services for Law Students section of the Law Library’s home page.  Accessing these books through your Westlaw account allows you to personalize use, including highlighting text, full text searching and creating a list of favorites.

So if your favorite study aid is checked out from the Law Library’s Study Skills Collection, no worries.  Just check to see if it is available on Westlaw.

Access to Westlaw Classic ends July 1st

 

 

 

Westlaw recently announced that access to Westlaw Classic for academic users will end July 1, 2014.  If you use WestlawNext exclusively this change will likely not affect you, but if you conduct any research on Westlaw Classic please take note of the July 1st cutoff.  WestlawNext will still “bridge” users into Westlaw Classic databases that are not available on the new interface, and non-academic users (firms, courts, etc…) will continue to have access to Westlaw Classic for a while longer.

If you have questions about the change or need help utilizing WestlawNext please contact a reference librarian.  You may also find Westlaw’s online WestlawNext Tutorials helpful.

 

Summer Use of Westlaw, LexisNexis, and Bloomberg Law

Westlaw
Your Westlaw password will remain active over the summer for a limited number of research hours.  Westlaw does allow full summer access for the following permissible uses:

  • Law school class
  • Law Review or Journal work
  • Moot Court work
  • Project for a Professor
  • Unpaid, nonprofit public-interest internship/externship pro bono work required for graduation

To extend your Westlaw access
Eligible students will need to register for a password extension and must agree to only use their password for permissible purposes.  To register for a password Summer Extension visit    http://lawschool.westlaw.com/registration/summerextension.asp.

Access to Westlaw for graduates
Graduating students can register for the Westlaw Grad Elite Extension Program that will extend their access to WestlawNext and Westlaw Classic through November 2014 to prepare for the bar exam.  To register for the Grad Elite Extension visit http://lawschool.westlaw.com/registration/gradelite.aspx.

If you have any questions please contact our Westlaw Academic Account Manager, Kristen Knepper, at kristen.knepper@thomsonreuters.com.

LexisNexis
You will have unlimited access to your Lexis Advance account over the summer for any use, including paid positions.

Access to Lexis Advance for graduates
Graduating students can register for a Lexis Graduate Program ID that will extend their access through December 2014 to prepare for the bar exam. To register, visit www.lexisnexis.com/grad-access.

If you have any questions please contact our Account Executive, Dana Shimo, at  dana.shimo@lexisnexis.com.

Bloomberg Law
You will have unlimited access to your Bloomberg Law account during the summer for any use, including paid positions.

Access to Bloomberg Law for Graduates
Graduating students will have unlimited access to Bloomberg Law for six months after graduation.

If you have any questions, please contact our Bloomberg Law representative, Will Thompson, at wthompson@bna.com.

West Study Aids Now Available Online to all College of Law Students

West Study Aids are now available online to all Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law students. Gilbert Law Summaries, Concise Hornbooks, Nutshells, Sum & Substance Quick Reviews, Exam Pro Series, and others covering more than 350 areas of law are available as an add-on to Westlaw.  The Law Library has entered into a one year trial subscription to the collection

To access, go to http://lawschool.westlaw.com  and after logging on using your OnePass, click on “MY ePRODUCTS” at the top of the screen.  A direct link to the study aids is also available under the Services for Law Students section of the Law Library’s home page.  Accessing these books through your OnePass allows you to personalize use, including highlighting text, full text searching and creating a list of favorites.

No more worrying about looking for a title that has been checked out.  Check out this new library collection and let us know how you like it!

Copyright Lawsuit Against Westlaw and LexisNexis

Westlaw and LexisNexis have been publishing publicly filed legal briefs and motions, and charging their subscription users to access them online, for years.  Two attorneys, Oklahoma lawyer Edward White and New York city lawyer Kenneth Elan, plan to put a stop to it.   White and Elan recently filed a class action lawsuit against Westlaw and LexisNexis, claiming copyright infringement of the aforementioned legal documents.   They seek to represent both lawyers who have copyrighted their work and those who have not, and claim that the two publishing companies have engaged in “unabashed wholesale copying of thousands of copyright-protected works created by, and owned by, the attorneys and law firms who authored them.”

Read the full complaint here.

What do you think of this lawsuit?  Does it have a solid legal footing?  Or, as some have stated, do you think that the strength of the copyright claim is undermined by the fact that many legal opinions are based on other people’s arguments and analysis?

The West Digest System

One of the most often asked questions this time of year is about digests and how to use them. The digest system is designed by West Publishing. West organizes the law into over 400 subjects and assigns those subjects “topic numbers.” Within those topics are subtopics which West has assigned key numbers. It is organized like an outline, with points and sub-points. It is no more complicated than that other than how many key numbers the editors manage to include! The idea is that once you have a topic number and a key number you can access another west digest and find cases regarding the same legal subject. 

To use the digest in print, start with the “Descriptive Word Index” volumes located at the tail end of the volumes. Remember to think of keywords and synonyms. Note any topics and key numbers and then look them up in the main volumes. The main volumes are arranged alphabetically by subject and the subject alphabetical ranges (not all subjects) are on the spine of each volume. Also, remember to check the pocket parts for any updates.

The digest is also available on Westlaw. Select the “KEY NUMBERS” link on the top of any page to go directly to the key number search page.  You have 3 options. First, you can enter keywords to search for related topics and key numbers. Second, you can browse the entire outline of topics and key numbers by clicking on the “West Key Number Digest Outline”. Clicking on a key number results in a list of headnotes including KeyCite indicators with links to cases. Third, you can launch a key search. You can also easily change jurisdictions searched by using the pop-up menu on the page.Thomson-West has more information about its key number system at http://lawschool.westlaw.com/KNumbers/default.asp?appflag=44.

You can also listen to or read a transcript of CALI”s LibTour on West’s Digests.