LexisNexis and Westlaw are two of the largest commercial providers of electronic legal research materials. These online services, in conjunction with their counter-part print books, dominate the U.S. legal publishing industry. Bloomberg Law, a relative newcomer in the legal information market, offers an alternative to the established and familiar LexisNexis and Westlaw.
As law students, you are provided access to all three of these commercial services. You will receive training from the respective vendor representatives on research techniques and content. Evaluate their offerings and learn to recognize how their products are integrated into your curriculum. Once in practice, the use of these services is fee-based and your future employer may provide access to only one of these providers, so be flexible and become skilled in and familiar with the use of all three of these services while you are a student. All three vendors offer free certification programs for law students, which can be an advantage when seeking summer or permanent legal employment.
help@bloomberglaw.com or 888-560-2529
800-45-LEXIS (800-455-3947)
800-WESTLAW (800-937-8529)
Representative: Shelby Janicki-O'Brien
Shelby.Janicki@lexisnexis.com
Representative: Peter Lippmann
peter.lippmann@thomsonreuters.com
Bloomberg Law, LexisNexis and Westlaw sign-up information and registration codes will be emailed to your WSU email prior to the 1L Legal Writing Program Introduction.
If you have not received an email with your Library Research Database registration codes and links by August 12, 2024, or are experiencing difficulty with the BloombergLaw registration, please contact librarian Michelle LaLonde (mlalonde@wayne.edu or 313.577.9381) for assistance.
IF YOU'RE WORKING FOR A LAW FIRM:
Always follow Firm policies for client research. You can use both your academic Bloomberg Law and LexisNexis accounts for your work with a Firm if needed. Your Westlaw access is not licensed for client research.
IF YOU'RE RESEARCHING FOR A PROFESSOR, EXTERNSHIP OR CLINIC:
Bloomberg Law, LexisNexis and Westlaw are all available for your use. If you're researching Michigan law, ask a librarian about ICLE access.
Other library databases via the Article Databases tab continue to be available to you for your summer research.
TWEN is one of the course management tools used by faculty to post syllabuses, course assignments, and other class materials.
Activate your Westlaw registration to access TWEN. Sign on to add the "First Week Assignments" page. You may also access TWEN class pages from your professors once they are made available by faculty.