LibGuides: Legal Research Databases: Westlaw

Connecting to Westlaw

Westlaw
Available to Law Students, Faculty and Staff Only.
Westlaw Mobile Apps

Permitted Uses of Westlaw

Westlaw Academic License Agreement
A Student may access and use Westlaw solely for educational purposes directly related to student's coursework at Law School or for bar preparation purposes ("Educational Purposes"). Any other use, including any use in connection with student's employment outside of the Law School is prohibited.
Educational use includes pro bono and public service programs, minimal law school-paid stipend work, and unpaid public internships or externships that are part of your graduation requirements.
Summer Access to Westlaw
You can use Thomson Reuters products, including Westlaw® and Practical Law over the summer for non-commercial research. You can turn to these resources to gain understanding and build confidence in your research skills, but you cannot use them in situations where you are billing a client. Examples of permissible uses for your academic password include the following:

Summer coursework
Research assistant assignments
Law Review or Journal research
Moot Court research
Non-Profit work
Clinical work
Externship sponsored by the school
You do not have to do anything to gain access to these tools over the summer. If you have any questions, please contact our Thomson Reuters Academic Account Manager Peter Lippmann at peter.lippmann@thomsonreuters.com
After Graduation
You have access to Thomson Reuters products, including Westlaw and Practical Law, for six-months after graduation. Your “Grad Elite” access gives you 60-hours of usage on these products per month to gain understanding and build confidence in your research skills. While you cannot use it in situations where you are billing a client, Thomson Reuters encourages you to use these tools to build your knowledge of the law and prepare for your bar exam.

In addition, you get access to On-Demand Learning eLearnings and Tutorials on Westlaw for 18-months after graduation. Once you know what your plans are, or if you need a refresher, don’t forget to use the On-Demand Learning eLearnings to becoming a pro at research!

YOU MUST OPT IN TO GRAD ELITE Access:
1) Go to https://lawschool.thomsonreuters.com/; Log in; Use the drop-down menu by your name to go to Grad Elite Status
2) Or Click here

If you have any questions, please reach out to our Thomson Reuters Academic Account Manager Holly Rush

If you come in person to the University of Akron Law Library there is free Westlaw Patron Access.

Need Help?

Westlaw Research Questions
1-800-REF-ATTY (1-800-733-2889)

Westlaw Technical Issues
1-800-WESTLAW (1-800-937-8529)

Our School's Westlaw Representative:
Jill Burnette-Maurice
Jill.Burnette-Maurice@thomsonreuters.com

Library Westlaw Contact
Sarah Starnes
sstarnes@uakron.edu

Tutorials, Training and Guides

Videos

On-Demand Learning
Links to certification video and user guides
Westlaw Precision Training Resources
Handouts and videos
Westlaw Training and Support
Tutorials for case research, statutory research, regulatory research, citation verification, secondary sources and more.
Westlaw Video Tutorials Playlist on YouTube
Westlaw Precision - 30 min video
A video by our former Westlaw Rep, Holly Rush, introducing the new features of Westlaw Precision.
How to Create an Outline on Westlaw
Using Westlaw Outline Builder feature

User Guides & Support

Westlaw Support
Call or chat with a reference attorney or contact technical support.
Cost-Effective Research Tips User Guide (PDF)
This quick reference piece suggests ways to make your Westlaw research more efficient and therefore more cost-effective.
Westlaw Terms and Connectors pamphlet
Westlaw Training and Support
Tutorials for case research, statutory research, regulatory research, citation verification, secondary sources and more.
A Student Guide to Keycite
text plus a video

AI on Westlaw

Westlaw has two basic AI products:

1. Co-Counsel - An additional cost to purchasing a Westlaw research system. Use it for research, summarizing information, drafting, reviewing documents. Claims Explorer - upload a document and get a list of relevant claims. Quick check a document to get more relevant authority and check the authority cited.

2. Search & Summarize Practical Law - gets its data from Practical Law, so it does not include much of the primary law and secondary sources on Westlaw. Practical Law contains practice notes, forms, checklists and other resources for practitioners in a selection of civil practice areas.

Free Content from Thomson Reuters (Westlaw)

FindLaw
Owned by Thomson Reuters.

Keycite Flags in Westlaw Precision

Westlaw Connectors and Expanders

Terms and Connectors and Natural Language on Westlaw

A natural language search or a terms and connectors search may be used in the big box. Only terms and connectors may be used in the Search within Results box.
Automatic detection of terms and connectors searches: Whenever you type a query that contains a field restriction, proximity connector (/n, /s, /p), quotation marks, or expander (+, %, !), Westlaw automatically processes your search as a Boolean Terms and Connectors query. See Westlaw Getting Started Guide. If you have some words in the search that do not have connectors between them, Westlaw interprets the blank space as OR. For example: dna sample arrested and "serious crime", is interpreted by Westlaw as: (dna OR sample or arrested) and "serious crime". (Note that AND, &, OR do NOT automatically trigger a terms and connectors search. You can either type adv: in front of the search, or change your preferences to make the search default to terms and connectors if and, or, etc. is used. To the right of the search box on Westlaw, click on Search Tips for more information.)

Practical Law

Practical Law is a legal know-how that goes beyond primary law and traditional legal research to give lawyers a better starting point. The tools included can help both students and faculty improve their know-how of how these areas of law are used in the practicing world. To learn more about Practical Law, click here.

Lexis and Westlaw Order of Operations

Note that Westlaw uses BUT NOT or % for not.

You can always use parenthesis, (), to change the order of processing.