This paper examines the evolving role of computer-based legal research tools — particularly Westlaw and Lexis — alongside traditional methods such as case books, legal journals, and treatises. While acknowledging that digital research dramatically accelerates the retrieval of case law, the paper argues that computers cannot replace the foundational legal skills of issue identification, conceptualization, and analogical reasoning. The author outlines a research process in which technology serves as an efficient but limited tool, and concludes that trained legal reasoning remains essential to effective legal research regardless of the technological resources available.
There is a tendency in today's legal environment to over-emphasize the value of computer research and to ignore the traditional advantages offered by case books, legal journals, and legal treatises. Some in the profession are advocating the abandonment of all written materials in favor of adopting computers and the internet as the exclusive source of legal research. Doing so, however, fails to recognize the inherent frailties of internet and computer research: the researcher must still be capable of developing concepts and analogies (Turley, 2010). Computers are incapable of developing either, and it remains imperative that the person conducting the research possess both abilities.
That said, the value of computers and the internet in the process of doing legal research cannot be overstated (Nolasco, 2010). For hundreds of years, legal research meant locking oneself in a library and meticulously working through volumes of case books using West key words until finding legal support for the propositions of law that applied to the issue being researched. The nature of the law and its attendant ambiguities made this process laborious, and the prevailing party in litigation too often became the party who was most patient or fortunate enough to find the needle in the haystack that could make the difference in a close case.
The great advantage of computer research is the speed at which results can be generated. Through the use of either Westlaw or Lexis, a legal researcher with well-developed keyword skills can avoid hours of paging through heavy volumes of books. Both Lexis and Westlaw have done an excellent job of compiling and uploading years of case history and making it available to the legal community. Today's modern law student has been raised using computers and is adept at utilizing key words to find the legal concepts and controlling law that support the positions they are attempting to defend. As noted above, however, the ability to use key words effectively is only as good as the researcher's ability to conceptualize the law and draw appropriate analogies.
The first step in conducting proper legal research is to fully identify the legal issues. This involves determining what statutes are involved or what principles of common law might apply. This is where many researchers fall short. It is essential that the researcher fully identify the parameters of the case before beginning the research; otherwise, valuable time and effort will be wasted.
"Technology's role in gathering supporting and opposing cases"
"Human reasoning required to apply and synthesize case law"
The introduction of computers, the internet, and the proprietary work of Westlaw and Lexis have changed the practice of law considerably, but they have not replaced the need for an individual trained in good legal reasoning. Such skills are irreplaceable and remain the key to effective legal research.
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