WestlawNext and the Small Firm

I have to say, it was an impressive demonstration.  The WestlawNext concept is to take searching to a higher and more intelligent level.  Instead of a very literal search, WestlawNext seeks to add the "intelligence" to the search.  It does so by harnessing the millions of searchers queries being done to find patterns and trends in searching.  Thus if one searches for "thin skull" in Georgia the search would return zero results because Georgia does not use that term.  The new algorithm in WestlawNext, however, sees that many others have searched for that term looking for information on "aggravation of preexisting injuries" and then returns relevant results.

The results, as claimed by Thompson Reuters, is easier searching, better ranked, more relevant search results, returned more quickly, with greater assurance that one is seeing all the information available.  But the question is, what does this mean to the solo or small firm lawyer?

Technology can and is the great equalizer for many solo and small firm lawyers.  WestlawNext looks like it does have its finger on the next generation in search technology.  There has been talk that this makes WestlawNext more Google like.  What I saw in the demonstration actually looks a step beyond Google.  The brilliance of Google was using linking as an indicator of relevance and importance, but it is still a very literal search.  This goes further down that road harnessing the power of our many searches to give not only relevance of literal searches but to breakout of the literalism of Boolean search to see the relationships with terms that are not in the literal search but information likely to be highly relevant.

I certainly am not covering all the improvements that WestlawNext is claiming.  These include a simplified searching box eliminating your need to know which of the 40,000 databases, not needing Westlaw syntax for searching, online folders for your research with are automatically updated, collaboration and work-flow tools, automatic Keysiting, and a much cleaner easier to read look and feel.

Is there a rub?  Well, what about price?  And, the answer is "I don't know," because there was nothing in the presentation that even came close to pricing information.  Westlaw has never been cheap and it is unlikely that WestlawNext will be a cheaper alternative.  Rumor on the street has it that Thompson Reuters invested an obscene amount of money heavily in this project and they no doubt intend to see a return on their investment.  It looks to be a great tool.  I'll be curious to hear from small firm practitioners both about its utility and value.

For more on WestlawNext:

David Bilinsky:  Dave's Top 10 List about WestLaw Next

Bob Ambrogi:  A First Look at Westlaw Next

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