Thomson Reuters Westlaw Reviews and Ratings

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I rely on Thomson Reuters Westlaw for the vast majority of my legal research needs. The Thomson Reuters Westlaw product helps me identify cases and secondary sources in preparation for litigation, while drafting briefs, and in developing oral argument strategy. While I mostly rely on the tradition search features, I've enjoyed the Quick Cite feature to quickly pull cited authorities and like playing around with new tech innovations that Thomson Reuters Westlaw offers.

Likelihood to Recommend

I rely almost exclusively on Thomson Reuters Westlaw for my legal research needs. I can find cases faster, use citing references, and examine authorities most efficiently on Thomson Reuters Westlaw. My colleagues all use Thomson Reuters Westlaw as well because it is the best legal research tool that we have available. In my opinion, there is no true rival.

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

For staying up to date on new case law and legislative developments. The products keep me on track with new laws and allow me to reduce risk for our organization.

Likelihood to Recommend

Great product, just the price could be a bit lower

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Beware of Westlaw's pricing mechanisms. I'm a solo practitioner with a limited subscription, and while I appreciate and use the Form Builder, I made the mistake (apparently) of downloading exactly two documents that were outside the scope of my subscription. They weren't even used once I opened them, and I was charged hundreds of dollars extra each month (because of course, with my luck, the two downloads fell into different billing cycles). Rather than billing me for just the documents, I was billed for an entire monthly subscription. As a small firm, a surprise $500 bill (instead of $200)—two months in a row—was quite a hit. Once I realized what had happened, I of course stopped even exploring documents outside the scope of my subscription but wanted to post this to hopefully prevent it from happening to someone else. I'm sure this pricing structure is laid out in fine print, but it was certainly never mentioned to me in the three intro sessions I had with the sales team before signing up.

Likelihood to Recommend

I find Westlaw's Form Builder to be helpful for simple documents and estate plans, but it doesn't handle complex situations very well. It's also missing some very common documents that I feel should be included, such as a Community Property Agreement for Washington state.

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We are a personal injury law firm that utilizes [Thomson Reuters] Westlaw in a number of different ways. [Thomson Reuters] Westlaw provides us [the] ability to research legal issues across all state courts as well as federal courts, even into other states if needed. We are also able to review and research court filings from other attorneys or legal cases that [Thomson Reuters] Westlaw provides through their research. Another feature utilized quite frequently is the ability to look up information through [...] public records when information on defendants or insurance companies is not readily available.

Likelihood to Recommend

Any time you need to research case law or a legal issue, [Thomson Reuters] Westlaw is the place to go. I used another legal research site in the past and felt that it was easy to navigate on their site. However, that site did not have a scope or library of research ability that [Thomson Reuters] Westlaw provides its users. Ultimately, for me, navigation of a site can be learned and taught, but in the legal field, you want the content to be priority and that's what you get from [Thomson Reuters] Westlaw.

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I used Westlaw as a student and instructor, and now use ProFlex to support estate planning needs. This was to cut back on research and form creation needs as part of that business segment. I needed to replace my estate planning forms creator and this seemed the most cost effective solution.

Likelihood to Recommend

Perhaps well-suited in enterprise agreements where many users need access to many areas, and a giant contract is cost effective. This was a good company to work with as a student and instructor where value was not my specific concern. I cannot speak to the value paid by the responsible party in that context.

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Westlaw for legal research and docket management. We recently switched from Pacer to Westlaw Dockets and have greater access to records. This allows us to perform more efficient research across our organization and stay current with trends and new developments in case law.

Likelihood to Recommend

Westlaw is helpful for doing case research but is very expensive. For smaller firms or fast-growth firms, this makes it difficult to bring in people or have temporary assistance during peak times without spending a ton of money on licenses. The functionality of the product is extremely helpful but the pricing and contract terms are not.

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use Westlaw for legal research. I use it to search for cases to support my briefs and memoranda. I also use Westlaw to check on the legal citations that my adversaries use as support in their arguments. Westlaw is a great tool for legal research particularly its headnotes and keycites. Westlaw's headnotes are what set it apart from other legal research tools. The ease in searching through headnotes allow for quicker and more efficient research allowing me to get the job done faster. Keycites make it easier to search broad topics when I do not know exactly what I am looking for.

Likelihood to Recommend

Best suited for legal research. Also helpful when looking for statutes, or other regulations. When looking up research on Westlaw, I know that it is accurate. It is less appropriate perhaps in a smaller firm where the cost exceeds it benefits.

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Westlaw is used across the whole organization. It serves as a research platform, search engine, and document saving system. We can also use it to share files.

It is mainly used for research purposes. I use it for three main purposes: first, to locate primary resources (cases, statutes, black letter law); second, to locate secondary resources (law review, treatises, articles); last, to find templates or forms.

Likelihood to Recommend

Westlaw is very well suited in any legal research setting. Particularly for law students, summer associates, interns, externs, or junior attorneys, it is probably the most familiar and available research platform and search engine available. Additionally, most other attorneys, judges, and researchers or professors are used to using Westlaw.

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use WestLaw as one of two legal research platforms. I have used WestLaw since law school and have never looked back. I only practice immigration law, so the most important thing for me are secondary sources and periodicals so I can stay up-to-date. WestLaw had superior content to Lexis when I decided to sign a contract. I need to get answers to my procedural and substantive questions fast and WestLaw helps me do that quickly and efficiently.

Likelihood to Recommend

WestLaw and/or Lexis Nexis are necessary for the sophisticated practitioner. Unfortunately, there aren't viable alternatives for case law research and legal research platforms. WestLaw has superior secondary sources for the immigration lawyer, so I would recommend it for that. It's not for the budge conscious, but it is what it is until the legal research duopoly is disrupted.

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Westlaw does an amazing job of easily and quickly finding relevant legal literature on both small and large scale searches. Westlaw provides methods of narrowing one's search via specific criteria (for example, case law, statutes, regulations, etc.) as well as using other "key word" and other tools to allow one to narrow their search. Highly recommend.

Likelihood to Recommend

Westlaw is not good for looking up state statutes or codes by citation. It is however good at (once finding said statute) allowing one to view all relevant case law on point with the citation. Westlaw is also good at narrowing various topics into what I believe are called Keycites, though sometimes they do not totally encompass a particular topic.