Learning How To Use Westlaw

One of our subscribers reached out yesterday and asked for a point in the right direction for some lessons on doing case law research on Westlaw. Here are some resources I’ve put together that hopefully will help her and anyone else who is interested.  Keep in mind, if your firm has a Westlaw account, you probably have a handy dandy representative who will fall head over heels to hook you up with some learning.  Also, if you are a student and don’t have access to Westlaw at work, your school might be able to help you out with free or low cost student access.  Finally, if you are a Florida Registered Paralegal, don’t forget that you get free Florida research via FastCase through the Florida Bar’s website.

Have other suggestions? Feel free to COMMENT on this post with other links or resources. Thank you! (Sorry if you got this post numerous times, there was a little glitch in the system so I had to delete and re-post it)

Westlaw User Guides <- wow, really great assortment of information here!!

West eLearning Center – you can make an account without having a Westlaw subscription – check your spam box for your temporary password. Once you login, you should see a column down the left hand side with a variety of subjects. So, for example, if you choose “Westlaw for Paralegals” you then open up a box with 4 options, those options are “Fundamentals, Litigation, Statutes and Cases”… Each section has self-paced lessons with audio, video, printable handouts etc.

Free Westlaw Webinars – you may need a Westlaw subscription for this

Video Tutorials by Beth Hoffman – University of Arizona

The Law Student’s Quick Guide to Legal Citation