Chapter 10 Accessing Authority Online

Signing On In a law office, your client is charged from the moment you sign on!

Preferences Lexis allows you to set a wide variety of preferences.

The Tabs The key to Lexis is knowing how to use the Tabs: Search Research Tasks Search Advisor Get a Document Shepard’s

Search Tab Choose a database in which to search

Search Tab Once a database is chosen, click either Terms and Connectors or Natural Language. Type your query. Try using the Suggested Words and Concepts tool.

Search Tab Your results will appear with the most recent cases first.

Search Tabs Once you have your search results, you can: Quickly review the summaries for the cases Click on the title to view the whole case Select it for Downloading by checking the FOCUS box Determine its current validity through the Shepard’s indicators , download, or fax the results page

Research Tasks Tab This page allows the researcher to focus research by area of law. Once you choose a topic, a search is performed only within that subject matter.

Search Advisor Tab The Search Advisor helps the research both broaden and focus the scope of online research by grouping topics, then providing varied possible sources in which to search.

Get a Document Tab If you have a citation, just click on the get a document tab to retrieve it. Once the authority is located, you can quickly print it, download it, or Shepardize it with just a couple of clicks.

Shepard’s Tab You can very quickly Shepardize almost any authority by clicking on the Shepard’s tab and entering a citation.

Print Toolbar You can print, download, fax, or your document (for a price!). You can also view the document in a “Text Only” format, which makes it easier to read.

Sign Off As soon as you are finished researching, printing, or downloading, sign off by clicking on the link at the top right- hand side of the page.

LexisNexis Both Lexis and Westlaw are fantastic research tools. But remember: everything you do online at these sites costs money! These are expensive services. While you have access to Lexis during this course, practice getting on and off line quickly. Instead of printing out a lot of cases, print the Search Results page. You could then get the documents at the law library for a fraction of the cost of downloading online.