Enhanced features and improved performance reduce time needed to draft, review and validate legal documents

April 14, 2015 — NEW YORK - LexisNexis® Legal & Professional today announced that its industry-leading legal drafting and review tool, Lexis® for Microsoft Office®, now integrates with Lexis® Search Advantage, an internal document search solution. Lexis for Microsoft Office version 4.9 also features improved performance, further usability enhancements and direct download capabilities to LexisNexis® CaseMap®. This will help legal professionals expedite review, validation and drafting of legal documents, and give them faster and easier access to the full set of relevant internal and external content.

“By integrating the search capabilities of Lexis Search Advantage with the drafting and review tools from Lexis for Microsoft Office, our firm now has all the content and tools to draft briefs start to finish all from within Microsoft Word. We are now able to open one window and locate the exact internal document we need to model, check our citations and quotes for accuracy, then prepare a court-approved Table of Authorities,” said Monice M. Kaczorowski, chief knowledge officer, Neal Gerber & Eisenberg LLP. “With this improved workflow, attorney time is better spent focusing on the client and strengthening our competitive advantage. The decision to use LexisNexis as our sole provider of legal research and solutions allowed Neal Gerber a strategic approach to knowledge management and improved workflow.”

Lexis for Microsoft Office puts key resources for document review, validation and drafting at legal professionals’ fingertips – directly within the writing applications they use every day. A single search box accesses Lexis Advance® content and functionality via a tool bar embedded in Microsoft Word® and Outlook®—eliminating the hassle of switching between separate applications or windows to research and validate citations and quotes.

The new integration with Lexis Search Advantage surfaces vital case information from a firm or legal department’s internal document management collection directly within the search results. Users can narrow down searches to view results from Lexis®, their computer, Lexis® Web, Bing®, Google™, cases, statutes, administrative material and now, results from the firm's internal documents. This gives users a panoramic view across internal content and external resources such as Lexis Advance and the open Web—all in one place.

“New associates and colleagues joining from another firm or department will benefit from being able to quickly tap into documents and information from the internal knowledge base,” said Jeff Pfeifer, vice president, Lexis Advance, at LexisNexis. “The integration of Lexis for Microsoft Office and Lexis Search Advantage helps legal professionals get a complete picture of the documents and insights available, reducing the time it takes to complete research and validate briefs from opposing counsel—all within Microsoft Word or Outlook.”

Other key features of version 4.9 include:

  • Direct download option: Documents can now be delivered in a format compatible with CaseMap, the LexisNexis case analysis software, making it easier to and assess legal documents and other case information
  • Improved Performance & User-Friendly Tools: In Microsoft Word or Outlook side navigation panes allow for instant review and changes to text and formatting
  • An Enhanced Progress Bar: This feature now provides visual details of documents as they process, allowing users to follow the actions Lexis for Microsoft Office is completing in real-time.

Since its launch five years ago, Lexis for Microsoft Office has been enhanced as a result of extensive customer collaboration. Deeper integration with the LexisNexis content and technology portfolio has delivered new product benefits for end-users. Significant enhancements rolled out in the past year include:

  • Link to Cites: This new feature enables users to quickly build permanent hyperlinks between citations and full text documents on Lexis Advance.
  • Validate All Quotes: Check the accuracy of all quotes within a document at once and review options for corrections and formatting with a side-by-side text comparison to original documents on Lexis Advance.
  • Email Suggestions for Review: Users can email suggested corrections of quotes and citations from a document to colleagues via Outlook. Details of the suggestions are included within each email
  • Prepare Table of Authorities: In one click, automatically update edits made in the Table of Authorities section with the Refresh Report button

Over the past years, Lexis for Microsoft Office has frequently garnered attention and praise among lawyers and legal administrators. Most notably, it has been voted “Best Tables of Authority Software” by readers of the National Law Journal for the second year in a row and named “Best Table of Authority Software Provider” in the 2014 New York Law Journal reader rankings survey. In addition, it has been recognized in TechnoLawyer Newswire’s Top 10 Products of 2014 Awards by subscribers to the publication.

To learn more about Lexis for Microsoft Office, download the product brochure here: http://www.lexisnexis.com/pdf/lmo/LMO-New-Enhancements.pdf

Screen shots and animated GIFs of the product update can be downloaded here:

About LexisNexis® Legal & Professional
LexisNexis Legal & Professional is a leading global provider of content and technology solutions that enable professionals in legal, corporate, tax, government, academic and non-profit organizations to make informed decisions and achieve better business outcomes. As a digital pioneer, the company was the first to bring legal and business information online with its Lexis® and Nexis® services. Today, LexisNexis Legal & Professional harnesses leading-edge technology and world-class content to help professionals work in faster, easier and more effective ways. Through close collaboration with its customers, the company ensures organizations can leverage its solutions to reduce risk, improve productivity, increase profitability and grow their business. LexisNexis Legal & Professional, which serves customers in more than 175 countries with 10,000 employees worldwide, is part of RELX Group plc, a world-leading provider of information solutions for professional customers across industries.