“Get It, Got It, Good: Effective Legal Research of Coverage Issues in the Digital Age”

At a roundtable discussion in the ICLC conference, Serena Wellen of LexisNexis explained how efficient legal research of insurance coverage issues could be performed on lexis.com. Key searching tips include how to get the document desired and find similar documents by using features such as "More Like This Headnote," "More Like Selected Text" and how to find other documents with similar citation patterns or similar language patterns. In addition, you can set up LexisNexis and Shepard's Alerts that can be viewed online or via e-mail to follow developments in any research issue or case.

Another important avenue for insurance law research is the LexisNexis Insurance Practice Center. Many functions can be performed through the Insurance Practice Center, including:

• Tracking emerging issues from Mealey's reports and over 30,000 news sources;
• Finding and analyzing insurance policy provisions with resources such as ISO Policy Language and Model Policies;
• Finding insurance coverage analysis in such authoritative sources as the New Appleman on Insurance Law Library Edition and Practice Guide;
• Investigating facts and evaluating risks by tapping into resources such as LexisNexis Dossier, Best Company Reports and court records from CourtLink;
• Creating and drafting documents, for example, by utilizing Model Pleadings and Motions;
• Researching insurance compliance issues with LN's Insurance Compliance user interface, State Net Early Warnings, Enacted Legislation and Interpretive Materials, Pending Legislation, 50-State Assessments with Jurisdictional Charts, Market Conduct Reports, and the second volume of the New Appleman on Insurance Law  Library Edition;
• Researching liability and damage issues using cases, analysis, briefs and motions; and
• Gathering the information needed for effective litigation.

In addition, Ms. Wellen noted through the Insurance Practice Center you can access the tools you need to make an early case assessment; draft, file and send documents; gather information on people, businesses, assets, verdicts, clients and court dockets.