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Legal research guides and case-law tips
Plain-English guides for lawyers, paralegals, and small firms: finding cases, reading citations, checking good law, and writing a memo.
WestCheck Alternatives: Westlaw Quick Check Cite Checking
WestCheck now redirects into Drafting Assistant and Quick Check is only documented for Westlaw Edge. What replaced both, and what cite checking costs in 2026.
Read articleCancel Westlaw Subscription: 30 Day Notice and What to Buy Next
Westlaw and LexisNexis are fixed term contracts. What the order form says about notice periods, the retail rate on expiry, and where firms go next.
Read articleLexisNexis Free Trial: How Long Lexis+ Trials Last and What They Cost After
LexisNexis runs several free trials, not one: 2, 7, 14 and 30 day offers are documented. What each covers, who the terms exclude, and what Lexis+ costs after.
Read articleOutsourced Legal Research Cost vs a Research Subscription
Outsourced legal research costs 190 to 285 dollars an hour at published US rates. Here is the break-even against a research subscription, with the math.
Read articlePractical Law Alternatives for Litigators
The cheapest Practical Law plan excludes every litigation practice area, and Practical Law has no case law at all. What litigators should buy instead.
Read articleHarvey AI Competitors and Alternatives Compared
Harvey AI competitors and alternatives compared on published price, firm size served and citator: CoCounsel, Lexis+ with Protege and Westlaw Advantage.
Read articleWestlaw Free Trial: 7 Days, What You Get, and Pricing After
The Westlaw free trial is 7 days with full premium access and no credit card. What it includes, how to request one, what Westlaw costs afterward, and how to run the week so it tells you something.
Read articleWestlaw Edge Pricing and Alternatives in 2026
Westlaw Edge was replaced twice, by Precision in 2022 and Advantage in 2025. What Thomson Reuters charges now, what it never published, and the alternatives.
Read articleLexis+ AI vs Westlaw Advantage Pricing and Accuracy
Lexis+ AI is now Lexis+ with Protege and Westlaw Precision is now Advantage. What Stanford measured, what each costs, and which one a small firm should buy.
Read articleLegal Research Software for Solo Attorneys
Legal research software for solo attorneys: what vLex Fastcase, Westlaw, Lexis and self-serve AI tools really cost, and how to choose without a contract.
Read articleWestlaw Precision Is Now Westlaw Advantage AI
Westlaw Precision was replaced by Westlaw Advantage on August 13, 2025. What Deep Research does, what Thomson Reuters charges, and whether to upgrade.
Read articleHow to Switch Legal Research Providers
Switching legal research providers is a calendar problem. Auto-renewal notice windows, what your saved research loses, how to test a replacement, and what it saves.
Read articleCite Checking a Legal Brief: Table of Authorities
Cite checking a legal brief in five passes: verify existence, format, quotations, support, and good law, then build the table of authorities and reconcile it.
Read articleWestlaw KeyCite Flags vs Shepard's Citator Signals
Westlaw KeyCite flags and Shepard's Signals compared side by side: what each color claims, where the two citators disagree, and what neither one tells you.
Read articleLexis Advance vs Lexis+: What Replaced It
Lexis Advance was superseded by Lexis+ in July 2020, and Lexis+ AI was replaced by Lexis+ with Protege on February 24, 2026. What each tier costs and includes.
Read articleCasetext Migration Guide: Replace Every Feature
Casetext migration guide: what replaced SmartCite, Parallel Search and CARA after the shutdown, what your data did not carry over, and what it costs now.
Read articleDoes Westlaw Charge Per Search? Cost Per Search
Does Westlaw charge per search? On a flat-rate plan, no. What you really pay for: out-of-plan documents, delivery fees, and the 99 dollar cost-recovery charge.
Read articleLexisNexis Subscription: Buy Lexis+ Online for 1 to 3 Attorneys
LexisNexis subscription: buy Lexis+ online for firms of one to three attorneys, including single seats, from 114 dollars per attorney per month.
Read articleHow Much Does vLex Cost? Why There Is No Price Page, and What Firms Actually Pay
How much does vLex cost: vLex publishes no rate card at all, and vlex.com has no pricing page. What is actually verifiable in 2026, why your state bar may already include Fastcase, and what to pin down in a quote.
Read articleBloomberg Law Pricing: Cost and the 2019 $450 Figure
Bloomberg Law publishes no price. The 450 dollars per user figure everyone repeats traces to a 2019 announcement. Here is what is verifiable in 2026.
Read articleChatGPT for Legal Research: What It Can and Cannot Do, and How to Use It Safely
ChatGPT for legal research works for explaining doctrine, outlining, and drafting, but not for finding cases. It has no case law database and no citator, so it generates citations that look right instead of retrieving citations that are right.
Read articleHow to Find Federal Court Opinions: Free Sources, PACER, and What Each One Misses
How to find federal court opinions: govinfo for authenticated official PDFs, CourtListener for the broadest archive, the circuit websites for the newest filings, and supremecourt.gov for slip opinions. What none of them give you is a citator.
Read articleHow Much Does PACER Cost? The 2026 Fee Schedule, the $30 Waiver, and What Is Free
How much does PACER cost: 10 cents per page, capped at 3 dollars per document, and nothing at all if you accrue 30 dollars or less in a quarter. Written opinions are always free. What the fee schedule really charges, and how to cut the bill.
Read articleCan You Trust AI for Legal Research? Accuracy, Hallucinations, and How to Verify
Can you trust AI for legal research? Only as a starting point. The best legal AI tools are right about 80 percent of the time, so verify every case, confirm the citation exists, and run a citator before you rely on it.
Read articleLegal Citator: What a Case Citator Actually Does
A legal citator tells you whether a case is still good law by tracking every decision that cited, followed, distinguished, or overruled it. How citators work.
Read articleHow to Find Case Law: A Step-by-Step Guide
How to find case law that controls your issue: where opinions live, how to search by issue and jurisdiction, and how to confirm a case is still good law before you cite it.
Read articleHow to Write a Legal Research Memo (With a Template)
How to write a legal research memo using the IRAC structure: question presented, short answer, facts, analysis, and conclusion, with a fill-in template you can reuse.
Read articleHow to Read a Legal Citation: Every Part Explained
How to read a legal citation: what the case name, volume, reporter, page, court, and year each mean, with worked examples for cases, statutes, and parallel cites.
Read articleWhat Is a Legal Precedent? Binding, Persuasive, Stare Decisis
What a legal precedent is, how binding and persuasive precedent differ, the meaning of holding vs dicta, examples, and how stare decisis decides which cases you must follow.
Read articleIs a Case Still Good Law? How to Check It
How to tell if a case is still good law: read the treatment signals, spot a decision that was overruled, reversed, or questioned, and verify before you cite it.
Read articleBoolean vs Natural Language Legal Search: Which to Use
Boolean vs natural language legal search compared: how each works, when terms-and-connectors beats plain English, when it does not, and how to combine both for better results.
Read articleAI Hallucinations in Legal Research: How to Avoid Fake Citations
AI hallucinations in legal research can invent cases that do not exist. Here is why it happens, the sanctions lawyers have faced, and a checklist to verify every citation.
Read articleBest Legal Research Tips for Solo Lawyers and Small Firms
The best legal research tips for solo lawyers: research faster without an enterprise seat, build a citation routine, reuse your own work, and keep costs predictable.
Read articleLegal Research Tools for Small Firms, Compared
Legal research tools for small law firms compared honestly on price, search style, accuracy, and fit, from free databases to enterprise seats. Updated 2026.
Read articleLegal Research Software Cost: Westlaw, Lexis and AI Prices
How much legal research software costs in 2026: free databases, self-serve tools from 39 dollars a month at launch, and enterprise Westlaw and LexisNexis seats, compared.
Read articleWhat Happened to Casetext? The Shutdown and Your Alternatives
What happened to Casetext: Thomson Reuters bought it in 2023, shut down the standalone product on March 31, 2025, and moved its technology into CoCounsel, plus what solos and small firms should use instead.
Read articleBinding vs Persuasive Authority: How to Tell Which Cases You Must Follow
Binding vs persuasive authority explained: what binding precedent means, when a case is only persuasive, how jurisdiction and court hierarchy decide, and how to distinguish an unfavorable precedent.
Read articleWhat Is Stare Decisis? Meaning, Examples, and How It Works
What stare decisis means: the doctrine that courts stand by decided cases, how horizontal and vertical stare decisis differ, real US examples, and when courts overturn their own precedent.
Read articleHolding vs Dicta: How to Tell the Rule From the Aside
Holding vs dicta explained: what a case holding is, what obiter dicta means, why only the holding binds under stare decisis, and how to find the holding of a case fast.
Read articleHow to Distinguish a Case: Beat an Adverse Precedent
How to distinguish a case: what distinguishing a precedent means, the material-facts test, when following precedent is required, and a step-by-step way to argue a case does not control.
Read articleHow Much Does CoCounsel Cost in 2026? Real Pricing
How much does CoCounsel cost in 2026: Thomson Reuters publishes no CoCounsel price at all, four plans and no dollar figure. What is verified, what former Casetext users now pay, and cheaper options.
Read articleHow Much Does Westlaw Cost in 2026? Real Pricing
How much does Westlaw cost in 2026: the two prices Thomson Reuters actually publishes, 256.75 and 399.75 dollars per month, why every other Westlaw figure online is unverifiable, and cheaper options.
Read articleHow Much Does Paxton AI Cost? Paxton Pricing in 2026
How much does Paxton AI cost: 499 dollars per user per month, 2,999 per user per year, a 7 day trial, and custom enterprise pricing. Why comparison sites still quote 199, and how it stacks up.
Read articleRatio Decidendi Explained: The Binding Part of a Case
Ratio decidendi is the rule essential to a court's decision, the binding part of a precedent. What it means, how it differs from obiter dicta, how to find it, and why it binds later courts.
Read articleHow Much Does CaseMap Cost in 2026? Real Pricing
How much CaseMap costs in 2026: the reported 50 to 75 dollar per user tiers, what changed when it became CaseMap+ AI, what drives the quote, and why fact management is a separate budget from research.
Read articleDo You Need Westlaw to Practice Law? An Honest Answer
No US jurisdiction requires Westlaw. What the competence rules actually demand, what the platform is genuinely hard to replace for, the cheaper stack that covers the daily work, and when to keep a seat.
Read articleHow to Search Case Law With AI (Without Getting Burned)
How to search case law with AI: frame the question with facts and jurisdiction, triage the holdings, check the treatment signal, and open every opinion you cite. Plus where AI search fails.
Read articleCan You Cite an Unpublished Opinion? Federal and State Rules
Can you cite an unpublished opinion? Federal courts allow it under FRAP 32.1 for decisions issued since 2007. California bars it outright. What the rules say state by state, and what weight an unpublished case carries.
Read articleHow Much Does Fastcase Cost? vLex Fastcase Pricing in 2026
How much does Fastcase cost? Free through more than eighty bar associations, about 995 to 1,140 dollars per year direct, and no published price for the vLex plans that add Vincent AI.
Read articleShepardize a Case: How to Check It Without Lexis
Shepardize a case step by step: run the cite through a citator, read the signal, filter to negative treatment in your jurisdiction, and open the citing decisions.
Read articlePublished vs Unpublished Opinions: What You Can Cite
Published vs unpublished opinions: what the difference means, when an unpublished decision may be cited under the federal and state rules, and how to tell whether an opinion is precedent before you rely on it.
Read articleHow to Find a Case by Citation: A Step-by-Step Guide
How to find a case by citation: read the reporter cite, pull the opinion from a free or paid source, handle parallel and public-domain cites, and confirm you have the right case before you rely on it.
Read articleWhat Court Decisions Are Binding in My State?
What court decisions are binding in your state: how to tell binding precedent from persuasive authority, why the answer depends on your court and jurisdiction, and a state-by-state guide to which opinions you must follow.
Read articleIs Google Scholar Good for Legal Research? An Honest Look
Is Google Scholar good enough for legal research? What its free case law database does well, the citator and coverage gaps that create malpractice risk, and when a paid research tool is worth it.
Read articleFastcase vs Westlaw: Cost, Coverage, and Who Each Fits
Fastcase vs Westlaw compared for solo and small-firm lawyers: what each costs, how coverage and citators differ, where the bar-association free tier fits, and how to pick without overpaying.
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Put the guides into practice
Ask a legal question in plain English and get cited cases, plain-language holdings, and a still-good-law signal in seconds. A research tool, not legal advice.