Because "Excellent Lawyers Miss Things"

By Geoffrey D. Ivnik, Esq. | Director of Marketing LexisNexis

There are few professional oversights as damaging to a lawyer’s career as missing key legal precedent when representing a client.

The legal news site Above the Law reported that a team of lawyers in one matter in the Southern District of New York missed a critical controlling precedent on an evidentiary issue that ultimately decided the outcome of the case. The judge and his clerks actually found the key case themselves the night before motion in limine arguments.

“Even excellent lawyers miss things, and sometimes it materially impacts the outcome,” said the judge.

Legal research has long been at the foundation of the practice of law. Everything starts with obtaining a clear understanding of the prevailing laws that govern any dispute, transaction or investigation. This makes it critical for lawyers to place accurate primary and secondary law research at the foundation of their entire legal strategy.

“Legal research must be comprehensive and precise,” writes AJ Blechner, research librarian and library instruction coordinator at Harvard Law School Library. “One contrary source that you miss may invalidate other sources you plan to rely on.”

Moreover, if you miss a critical fact, point of law or authoritative analysis, it’s likely that your opponent has not. You cannot afford the risk of overlooking anything.

So, how can a lawyer minimize the risk of missing cases when conducting legal research?

The most important thing you can do is to make sure you have access to the largest online collection of cases, statutes and regulations available to legal professionals. The source for that industry-leading content library is Lexis+®️.

Lexis+ delivers the most comprehensive collection of legal, news and public records content integrated with the most advanced legal analytics and exclusive data visualizations. This means that relying on Lexis+ for conducting your foundational legal research is the wisest approach for reducing the risk of missing relevant statutes or timely case law.

Consider the following statistical findings:

• Lexis+ has 15% more federal and state cases than Westlaw.
• Lexis+ adds new cases faster than Westlaw 79% of the time.
• Exclusive to Lexis+, Practical Guidance leverages the expertise of 1,600 practitioners, the most in the industry.
• Lexis+ has 310% more briefs, pleadings and motions than Westlaw.
• Lexis+ has 40% more legal treatises across all practice areas, including exclusive access to trusted analysis from Matthew Bender titles such as Colliers, Chisum and Moore’s.
• Lexis+ has 3.1 million searchable state trial court orders, the most judicial orders in the industry.
• Lexis+ has the largest collection for searchable court dockets.
• Lexis+ has 1.3 million jury verdicts and settlements, more than any other provider.
• Exclusive to Lexis+, Practical Guidance Market Standards has 50% more deal points than Westlaw’s Practical Law.
• Lexis+ has 86 billion fully searchable public records.

Success in legal practice requires access to the latest legal authority, accurate case law, relevant statutes and current regulations. When it comes to the important question of how legal professionals can access the most comprehensive online collection of legal content, the answer is clearly Lexis+.

This competitive advantage is likely a key factor behind why practicing attorneys chose LexisNexis as Best Online Legal Research Provider (National Law Journal) and as the top legal research vendor among small law firms (ABA Legal Technology Survey) in 2021.

Lexis+ is a modern all-in-one platform from LexisNexis that combines superior research and data-driven insights. The solution provides legal professionals with all of the tools and resources necessary to practice with confidence and efficiency through five content libraries: Legal Research; Advanced Legal Analytics; Brief Analysis; Legal News Hub; and Practical Guidance.

Be sure your work doesn’t miss a thing with access to the most comprehensive collection of legal, news and public records content integrated with the most advanced legal analytics and exclusive data visualizations.

Learn more about Lexis+ content and technology advantages, and experience Lexis+ for yourself at legal.lexisnexis.com/unmatched-caselaw.