Thomson Reuters Westlaw

Score9.5 out of 10

37 Reviews and Ratings

Community insights

TrustRadius Insights for Thomson Reuters Westlaw are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.

Pros

Valuable Public Records Research Tool: Users have found Thomson Reuters Westlaw to be a valuable tool for public records research, providing an inventory of case laws and legal precedents. This feature has allowed multiple reviewers to easily distinguish between good and bad case law based on court decisions.

User-Friendly Interface: Many reviewers appreciate the user-friendly interface of Thomson Reuters Westlaw, finding it easy to use and logically organized. The clear layout makes it simple for users to follow and navigate through the platform.

Access to Specific Publishers' Content: Several users find the ability to access specific publishers' content extremely helpful. This feature enhances their research capabilities by providing them with access to a wide range of relevant information from trusted sources.

Reviews

12 Reviews

Thomson Reuters Westlaw is unrivaled.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

January 7, 2025

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I rely on Thomson Reuters Westlaw for the vast majority of my legal research needs. The Thomson Reuters Westlaw product helps me identify cases and secondary sources in preparation for litigation, while drafting briefs, and in developing oral argument strategy. While I mostly rely on the tradition search features, I've enjoyed the Quick Cite feature to quickly pull cited authorities and like playing around with new tech innovations that Thomson Reuters Westlaw offers.

Pros

User interface
Chat support
Plain language searches

Cons

The AI search function is good for identify some key cases that address a given topic, but is not always on point or precise in analyzing case outcomes.
More pre-programmed questions (e.g., What is the rule under Nebraska law for X) rather than having search for key words would improve efficiency.
Not logging me out when I have a bunch of tabs open but have gone ideal.

Likelihood to Recommend

I rely almost exclusively on Thomson Reuters Westlaw for my legal research needs. I can find cases faster, use citing references, and examine authorities most efficiently on Thomson Reuters Westlaw. My colleagues all use Thomson Reuters Westlaw as well because it is the best legal research tool that we have available. In my opinion, there is no true rival.

Verified User

Professional in Legal (11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

westlaw review

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

January 7, 2025

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

For staying up to date on new case law and legislative developments. The products keep me on track with new laws and allow me to reduce risk for our organization.

Pros

legal news
case law research
legislative research

Cons

price could be a bit lower
price could be a bit lower

Likelihood to Recommend

Great product, just the price could be a bit lower

Verified User

Director in Legal (10,001+ employees)

Vetted Review

20 years of experience

Beware of Out-of-Subscription Pricing

Rating: 2 out of 10

Incentivized

June 3, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Beware of Westlaw's pricing mechanisms. I'm a solo practitioner with a limited subscription, and while I appreciate and use the Form Builder, I made the mistake (apparently) of downloading exactly two documents that were outside the scope of my subscription. They weren't even used once I opened them, and I was charged hundreds of dollars extra each month (because of course, with my luck, the two downloads fell into different billing cycles). Rather than billing me for just the documents, I was billed for an entire monthly subscription. As a small firm, a surprise $500 bill (instead of $200)—two months in a row—was quite a hit. Once I realized what had happened, I of course stopped even exploring documents outside the scope of my subscription but wanted to post this to hopefully prevent it from happening to someone else. I'm sure this pricing structure is laid out in fine print, but it was certainly never mentioned to me in the three intro sessions I had with the sales team before signing up.

Pros

Form Builder
Legal Research

Cons

Pricing for Small Firms

Likelihood to Recommend

I find Westlaw's Form Builder to be helpful for simple documents and estate plans, but it doesn't handle complex situations very well. It's also missing some very common documents that I feel should be included, such as a Community Property Agreement for Washington state.

Hollie Del Vecchio

Owner / Attorney in Legal at Adaptive Law (1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

Thomson Reuters Westlaw far exceeds its competitors

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

October 9, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We are a personal injury law firm that utilizes [Thomson Reuters] Westlaw in a number of different ways. [Thomson Reuters] Westlaw provides us [the] ability to research legal issues across all state courts as well as federal courts, even into other states if needed. We are also able to review and research court filings from other attorneys or legal cases that [Thomson Reuters] Westlaw provides through their research. Another feature utilized quite frequently is the ability to look up information through [...] public records when information on defendants or insurance companies is not readily available.

Pros

Public Records Research
Inventory of case, laws, and legal precedents to research
Showing good vs. bad case law based on court decisions

Cons

Easier way to research specific issues
"Weed out" cases for research that are not relevant to issue searching
When case law is deemed bad, better explanation or citation as to why

Likelihood to Recommend

Any time you need to research case law or a legal issue, [Thomson Reuters] Westlaw is the place to go. I used another legal research site in the past and felt that it was easy to navigate on their site. However, that site did not have a scope or library of research ability that [Thomson Reuters] Westlaw provides its users. Ultimately, for me, navigation of a site can be learned and taught, but in the legal field, you want the content to be priority and that's what you get from [Thomson Reuters] Westlaw.

Brant Legendre

Attorney in Legal at Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys (51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

7 years of experience

I Will Never Forgive nor Recommend Their Services

Rating: 1 out of 10

Incentivized

November 9, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I used Westlaw as a student and instructor, and now use ProFlex to support estate planning needs. This was to cut back on research and form creation needs as part of that business segment. I needed to replace my estate planning forms creator and this seemed the most cost effective solution.

Pros

I was given a customized home page that included the estate planning forms. It also had a business forms link, which I assumed was part of the package because it was part of my customized home page.
A need arose for a contract within a family business as part of an estate plan, and I pursued this second link to see if I could address the family's need. I found the document I needed, and began to create the form. I received a warning that this was not within my plan, so I retreated. I later received an additional charge for $174.00, even though I had retreated and not completed the form.
I was treated [poorly] and passed from one department to another. I then lost trust and attempted to cancel the contract on the basis that I was afraid to continue using the product. I had been told that removing the ancillary charge was a "one-time solution."
I received my official response to my request to cancel the contract, which stated that "[i]t has been our long-standing policy and belief that agreements . . . should be honored by both parties." Basically even though I had a valid product and customer service complaint and will not be using the product, I am stuck paying.
Further, they do not consider my request to cancel as notice of non-renewal, so I will have to make a second request or they will automatically renew the contract at a price increase at the end of the "minimum term." I searched for a non-disparagement clause, and there is not one in any of the multiple "contracts" they offered. Therefore, I am telling you all that they suck and I strongly do not recommend signing up for their services.

Cons

Customer service.
Customer retention.
Consumer contracts.
Misleading website navigation.

Likelihood to Recommend

Perhaps well-suited in enterprise agreements where many users need access to many areas, and a giant contract is cost effective. This was a good company to work with as a student and instructor where value was not my specific concern. I cannot speak to the value paid by the responsible party in that context.

Verified User

Partner in Legal (1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

Good features but strict contract terms

Rating: 7 out of 10

Incentivized

December 17, 2019

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Westlaw for legal research and docket management. We recently switched from Pacer to Westlaw Dockets and have greater access to records. This allows us to perform more efficient research across our organization and stay current with trends and new developments in case law.

Pros

Case law research.
Docket searches.

Cons

Accessing dockets from case research.
Clear pricing.

Likelihood to Recommend

Westlaw is helpful for doing case research but is very expensive. For smaller firms or fast-growth firms, this makes it difficult to bring in people or have temporary assistance during peak times without spending a ton of money on licenses. The functionality of the product is extremely helpful but the pricing and contract terms are not.

Verified User

Contributor in Legal (11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

7 years of experience

Westlaw Bestlaw!

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

May 21, 2018

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use Westlaw for legal research. I use it to search for cases to support my briefs and memoranda. I also use Westlaw to check on the legal citations that my adversaries use as support in their arguments. Westlaw is a great tool for legal research particularly its headnotes and keycites. Westlaw's headnotes are what set it apart from other legal research tools. The ease in searching through headnotes allow for quicker and more efficient research allowing me to get the job done faster. Keycites make it easier to search broad topics when I do not know exactly what I am looking for.

Pros

The headnotes allow me to quickly read through the key aspects of the case.
Keycites make for quick efficient searches.
The flagging system is great for making sure the case is still good law.
Ability to save highlighting and comments on cases makes for organized research.

Cons

More expensive than other tools.
Limited plans.

Likelihood to Recommend

Best suited for legal research. Also helpful when looking for statutes, or other regulations. When looking up research on Westlaw, I know that it is accurate. It is less appropriate perhaps in a smaller firm where the cost exceeds it benefits.

Verified User

Professional in Legal (1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

4 years of experience

Westlaw by Thomson Reuters

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

March 16, 2018

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Westlaw is used across the whole organization. It serves as a research platform, search engine, and document saving system. We can also use it to share files.

It is mainly used for research purposes. I use it for three main purposes: first, to locate primary resources (cases, statutes, black letter law); second, to locate secondary resources (law review, treatises, articles); last, to find templates or forms.

Pros

Easy to use
Logical, clear to follow
Access to certain publishers

Cons

Some functions/features may seem less familiar if you are used to other platforms
Certain resources are not the very best (and are available on other engines)
Costly!

Likelihood to Recommend

Westlaw is very well suited in any legal research setting. Particularly for law students, summer associates, interns, externs, or junior attorneys, it is probably the most familiar and available research platform and search engine available. Additionally, most other attorneys, judges, and researchers or professors are used to using Westlaw.

Raymond Tran

Corporate Law Clerk in Legal at Seyfarth Shaw LLP (10,001+ employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience

View profile

WestLaw has Superior Secondary Sources for the Immigration Lawyer

Rating: 5 out of 10

Incentivized

February 13, 2018

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use WestLaw as one of two legal research platforms. I have used WestLaw since law school and have never looked back. I only practice immigration law, so the most important thing for me are secondary sources and periodicals so I can stay up-to-date. WestLaw had superior content to Lexis when I decided to sign a contract. I need to get answers to my procedural and substantive questions fast and WestLaw helps me do that quickly and efficiently.

Pros

Immigration content
Navigation is fairly intuitive better UI than Lexis

Cons

Overpriced
Doesn't link statutes the way that immigration lawyers cite them
User interface could be better

Likelihood to Recommend

WestLaw and/or Lexis Nexis are necessary for the sophisticated practitioner. Unfortunately, there aren't viable alternatives for case law research and legal research platforms. WestLaw has superior secondary sources for the immigration lawyer, so I would recommend it for that. It's not for the budge conscious, but it is what it is until the legal research duopoly is disrupted.

Verified User

Executive in Legal (1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

12 years of experience

Westlaw Easy and Great

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

February 13, 2018

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Westlaw does an amazing job of easily and quickly finding relevant legal literature on both small and large scale searches. Westlaw provides methods of narrowing one's search via specific criteria (for example, case law, statutes, regulations, etc.) as well as using other "key word" and other tools to allow one to narrow their search. Highly recommend.

Pros

Access to secondary sources
Great ability to save documents as pdf or word.
Great history function to help you pickup where you left off.

Cons

sometimes results are too broad
pricing
sometimes its hard to make searches relevant

Likelihood to Recommend

Westlaw is not good for looking up state statutes or codes by citation. It is however good at (once finding said statute) allowing one to view all relevant case law on point with the citation. Westlaw is also good at narrowing various topics into what I believe are called Keycites, though sometimes they do not totally encompass a particular topic.

Steven Price

Associate Attorney in Legal at Merritt, Webb, Wilson & Caruso, PLLC (51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

7 years of experience

View profile

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I Will Never Forgive nor Recommend Their Services

Rating: 1 out of 10

Incentivized

November 9, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Pros

I was given a customized home page that included the estate planning forms. It also had a business forms link, which I assumed was part of the package because it was part of my customized home page.
A need arose for a contract within a family business as part of an estate plan, and I pursued this second link to see if I could address the family's need. I found the document I needed, and began to create the form. I received a warning that this was not within my plan, so I retreated. I later received an additional charge for $174.00, even though I had retreated and not completed the form.
I was treated [poorly] and passed from one department to another. I then lost trust and attempted to cancel the contract on the basis that I was afraid to continue using the product. I had been told that removing the ancillary charge was a "one-time solution."
I received my official response to my request to cancel the contract, which stated that "[i]t has been our long-standing policy and belief that agreements . . . should be honored by both parties." Basically even though I had a valid product and customer service complaint and will not be using the product, I am stuck paying.
Further, they do not consider my request to cancel as notice of non-renewal, so I will have to make a second request or they will automatically renew the contract at a price increase at the end of the "minimum term." I searched for a non-disparagement clause, and there is not one in any of the multiple "contracts" they offered. Therefore, I am telling you all that they suck and I strongly do not recommend signing up for their services.

Cons

Customer service.
Customer retention.
Consumer contracts.
Misleading website navigation.

Likelihood to Recommend

Verified User

Partner in Legal (1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience