Lexis Advance Tips: How to locate New York Law Journal (NYLJ) Cases on Lexis Advance

This is a question that we often get at the Reference desk since NYLJ is a popular source for faculty, students and attorneys.  If you are trying to locate NYLJ cases in Lexis Advance, try the following tip:

Type: NYLJ in the search box, choose Cases from NYLJ (ALM) from 1989 to set as a filter and run a search or choose the blue Get Documents link to automatically display results with today’s date first.  After running a search fill in the star Icon under the Narrow By Filters on the left side of the page to make a Favorite.

(Hat tip: Antoinette Stafilas, Esq., Lexis Law school Executive)
To access Lexis click here.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Lexis Advance Tips: How to locate a Matthew Bender Treatise for a specialty area

If you are researching a particular area of the law and are interested in finding Matthew Bender treatises, try the following tip:

Type the source name in the search box, i.e. Collier on Bankruptcy choose the blue Table of Contents link.  Fill in the star Icon under the source name to make a Favorite.  You can search within the Table of Contents Headings & Documents or select from the drop down menu on the left side to search just the Headings or just the Documents within the Table of Contents.   (Hat tip: Antoinette Stafilas, Esq., Lexis Law school Executive)
To access Lexis click here.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Interactive Tutorials on Lexis Advance

Are you looking to enhance your research skills on Lexis Advance?  Try Lexis Advance's new comprehensive and interactive tutorials. Tutorial subjects include secondary sources, case law, legislative history and more.  The tutorials include short quizzes to refresh learned material. To access the tutorials click on the student home page under Online Learning in Lexis Advance.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Historic Computer Experiences

Those studying for the Bar exam need a break, and it's summer for everyone, so enjoy this slide show revealing the dramatic changes in web design since nine of the most popular websites--including Google, Facebook, and the New York Times--were first introduced.  Brought to you by Mashable.com, "What the World's Biggest Websites Looked Like at Launch" also has some brief information about each home page's initial design.

And, long before they were mobile, Lexis and Westlaw were truly stationary--usable only at the dedicated computer terminals of the 1980's in law libraries and offices. Experience a brief close encounter with the first computer-assisted legal research terminal, introduced by Lexis-Nexis in 1980 and now on display in the Computer History Museum, Mountain View, California.  

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Bloomberg/Lexis/Westlaw Summer access reminder

Any Law student may use access Lexis Advance or Bloomberg Law during the Summer for any purpose. Graduates, you have access to Bloomberg for 6 months after graduation.  For Lexis, graduates may register for an additional 6 months access at www.lexisnexis.com/grad-access.

For Westlaw Next access, law students may register their ids if they doing Law School work.  You may not use your Westlaw account for your Summer job.  Graduates - you may extend your access for 6 months.  Go to www.lawschool.westlaw.com and sign in with your current user id to register/extend.


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Lexis Case Law Games for Exam Preparation

Lexis recently re-released Case Law Game by popular demand.  The game is designed to help law students spot and analyze issues in preparation for exams. This free fun tool allows students to compete against their friends and compare scores against other law schools.  It includes games for 1L's, upper level courses as well as the bar exam.  Click here to play.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Lexis Access

If you sign into Lexis and don't see all of the content that you are used to seeing, click on "change menu," and select "LEXIS-NEXIS Law School Menu." (Although this says "charge per search," that is incorrect, Hofstra Law users still have unlimited access.) Lexis is aware of this error and will have it corrected as soon as possible.


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Searching Outside Your Contract: WestlawNext Example

Attention WestlawNext users:

While we pay for access to a lot of content on WestlawNext here at Hofstra, it is common for a law firm to pay for access to specific content (often content relevant to the firm's practice areas), and then pay high per-document or per-minute charges for items that are not including within that subscription (this is true for both Westlaw and WestlawNext, as well as Lexis).

WestlawNext now provides examples of such charges for students to view. (On WestlawNext, click on Tools, and then "subscriber pricing guide." Or just view the PDF here.) Some databases are $55 per minute.

We say it often here: if you have access to Westlaw, WestlawNext, or Lexis after law school, know and understand your firm's contract.


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Appellate Advocacy Students

Just a reminder for Appellate Advocacy students. If you have not had Lexis and Westlaw training for Appellate Advocacy yet, it may be mandatory for your class. There are separate classes for Lexis and Westlaw (if your professor is making the training mandatory, you are probably required to attend both) and sign-up is online. Some instructions for signing up are here.




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Lexis and Westlaw Training for Appellate Advocacy

Appellate Advocacy students:

To register for Lexis and Westlaw training sessions, go to lexisnexis.com/lawschool and lawschool.westlaw.com.

For Westlaw, go to http://lawschool.westlaw.com, log in, click on “training,” then “on-campus trainings,” and then “in-person at my law school.”

For Lexis, go to http://www.lexisnexis.com/lawschool/, log in, and click on “access training calendar.”

Some Appellate Advocacy professors have made this training mandatory. If you are unsure whether this training is mandatory for you, check with your professor.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Westlaw Points for Haiti

On Jan. 17, we pointed out that students can donate Lexis points to the Red Cross to assist with the relief effort in Haiti. Well, this can also be done with Westlaw points--donating to the Red Cross is an option in the Westlaw Rewards catalog.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat