How Lexis+^® gave Briony Whyte back 25% of her time

Most lawyers need time to research to deliver exceptional client outcomes, but smart lawyers use the best technology to help them achieve these outcomes in less time.

Background

Briony Whyte is an Associate. She acts for a range of local and international clients and has experience across corporate, commercial, and construction law. She’s passionate about delivering great outcomes for her clients, and she uses technology to help her find incremental efficiencies and deliver exceptional outcomes in shorter time frames.

Challenge

Briony’s ability to deliver excellent client experiences relies heavily on her ability to research effectively and efficiently. Spending hours on fruitless research is her number one frustration. She’s been a user of Lexis Advance®, as well as other research platforms, for years - but recently she tried Lexis+.

Solution & Outcomes

“I think the difference I noticed first was that the user interface is much more intuitive,” she says. “The research pathways are clearly visible, my workflow is much easier when I can see the network of different topics and how my research might move.” For Briony, the simple interface of Lexis+ represented greater focus. “The clean display really helps with focus. I don’t tend to look at the things I don’t need, so if they’re taking real estate on the page I find myself blocking them out. But with Lexis+, that first landing page is a much more streamlined and less overwhelming experience.”

The streamlined experience brought speedier and more efficient research. “Often when you do research, you’re given a timeframe - for example, find as much information as you can in 1-2 hours,” says Briony. “But I found that with Lexis+, I was able to complete the same amount of research and produce a product of a similar or better quality in a shorter period than I would otherwise. In a task where I was given 1 to 2 hours, I only needed 40 minutes.”

One of the features that was most useful to Briony was Lexis® Argument Analyser, an AI-powered case law research tool. “Argument Analyser made it so much easier when I was looking for something specific in a case,” explains Briony. “On Lexis Advance, you can see that a case has referenced another case, but you can’t see in what context it’s been referenced. You have to read the whole case to work that out, and it takes a lot longer. With Argument Analyser, you can see that the cases are linked on the basis of the same topic. You can really limit the number of cases you have to read and the amount of reading you have to do in order to find the answers you're looking for.”

Again, the efficiency gains translated into a significant time-saving. “I think overall, Argument Analyser probably saved me about 25% of the time that I would otherwise have spent on research. All of the most relevant cases were presented on the first two pages of the search, which made it so easy to find exactly what I needed.” With the time I saved, I can work on other client work which is great for the practice.

Briony’s experience with Lexis+ was one of renewed efficiency. “The user interface is a lot simpler, providing easier access to the sources you need, without having to deal with information overload,” she says. “It made a big difference in terms of time, efficiency and effectiveness. And the research was more detailed and in-depth than it would have been had I just trawled through the cases the way I would traditionally have done. Overall, I’d definitely recommend Lexis+.”

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