On point
For your work
In-House Counsel Legal Research Tool and Litigation Research AI for In-House Counsel
For the in-house lawyer who needs a defensible answer before the next meeting: plain-English search, cited precedents, and a good-law check.
SSL secure. We do not sell your queries or your email.
In one paragraph
An in-house counsel legal research tool helps a small legal department answer business questions with cited authority instead of always sending the matter to outside counsel. CaseSearch is the self-serve alternative to a full enterprise research seat: in-house counsel search in plain English, get precedents with citations and plain-language holdings, and see whether each is still good law, transparently priced, so quick questions stay in house.
CaseSearch research console
Federal + state
|
Try:
Reading opinions
Finding the authorities that answer your question...
Sample answer. That question is outside the worked examples this preview ships with, so the authorities below show the format rather than an answer to what you typed. Pick one of the example questions above for a fully worked result.
Controlling statute
The controlling statute is surfaced alongside the case law so you read the code and the precedents together.
Plain-English answer
Research memo
- Question
- Short answer
- Authorities
CaseSearch shows you the sources. Always read the full opinion and verify citations before you rely on them.
$49/mo
One seat month to month, or $24 a month billed yearly, bought with a card.
No account
One real question runs before you sign up, so you can judge the answers first.
State and federal
Supreme Court, federal circuits and state appellate courts in one search.
Opinion 512
The 2024 ABA opinion on generative AI and client confidentiality.
Why it fits
Small in-house legal teams who handle quick research themselves and send only the heavy matters out.
Quick answers without outside counsel
Get cited authority for a business question before you decide whether it needs a firm.
Defensible and sourced
Every answer is a list of real, citable cases you can verify, not an unsourced opinion.
No enterprise procurement
Self-serve, transparent pricing instead of a sales-gated seat your team will rarely max out.
See it live
Run a real question yourself
Pick an example to see a full answer. This is a preview of the console, worked through three example questions, no signup needed.
CaseSearch research console
Federal + state
|
Try:
Reading opinions
Finding the authorities that answer your question...
Sample answer. That question is outside the worked examples this preview ships with, so the authorities below show the format rather than an answer to what you typed. Pick one of the example questions above for a fully worked result.
On point
Controlling statute
The controlling statute is surfaced alongside the case law so you read the code and the precedents together.
Plain-English answer
Research memo
- Question
- Short answer
- Authorities
CaseSearch shows you the sources. Always read the full opinion and verify citations before you rely on them.
Litigation research tools for in-house counsel
Most in-house lawyers do not need a research platform every day. They need one on the day a demand letter arrives, a former employee's lawyer cites a statute, or the sales team asks whether the limitation of liability clause in a signed contract will hold in another state. The job is early assessment: how exposed are we, what does the controlling case law say, and is this worth sending to a firm at all.
That job needs three things. Coverage of the state and federal appellate courts where the company can be sued. A way to ask the question the way the business asked it, without building a Boolean string. And a signal on each case showing whether it is still good law, because an answer built on a reversed decision is worse than no answer. CaseSearch does those three and stops there: you ask in plain English and get the on-point decisions with citations, the holding in plain language and a good-law signal.
Early case assessment
Size the exposure before you call outside counsel.
Contract questions
Check how a court in the governing-law state reads the clause.
Second look
Verify the cases in outside counsel's draft before it is filed.
What should stay in-house and what should go to a firm
A workable rule for a department of one to five lawyers: research in-house when the question is whether there is a problem, and send it out when the question is how to win it. Whether a non-solicitation clause is enforceable in the employee's state, whether an arbitration clause survives an unconscionability challenge, whether a statute of limitations has probably run. These are questions you can answer in twenty minutes with the right cases in front of you, and the answer shapes the instruction you give the firm.
It also changes the bill. A firm that receives a matter with the three controlling decisions already identified starts from a narrower brief than one told to look into it. And when outside counsel sends a draft motion, reading the cited cases yourself, with a signal showing which have been questioned, is the cheapest quality control a legal department has. Our legal citation checker does that check for every case in a brief.
Is AI safe for in-house legal research?
It is when the tool shows real, citable cases and you keep privileged facts out of the question. ABA Formal Opinion 512, issued in July 2024, says a lawyer using generative AI must understand how the tool treats client information, and for an in-house lawyer the client is the company. A research question rarely needs the facts that make it sensitive. Ask whether your state enforces a clause of a given kind against a party in a given position, not whether a named counterparty can sue over a named deal.
The second risk is the invented citation. Courts have sanctioned lawyers for filing cases a chatbot made up, and the same failure in a memo to the board is just as damaging. CaseSearch returns decisions from its case law database with their citations, so every authority can be opened and read before it goes into advice. It is a research tool and not legal advice, and it does not replace the judgment of the lawyer who signs the memo.
Ask the legal question
Leave out names, deal terms and privileged facts.
Open every case
Read the decision before you rely on it.
Side by side
How a legal department buys research and what it costs
How a small legal department gets each kind of research, with published prices where a vendor shows one. Read from vendor pages in October 2026.
| Option | What it costs | How you buy it | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outside counsel research memo | Billed hourly at the firm's associate rate | Engagement letter, per matter | Bet-the-company questions and anything headed to court |
| Westlaw or Lexis+ | Online stores publish law firm prices from $107.25 and $114 a month on 3 year terms; legal departments are quoted by sales | Sales call, multi-year term | Departments that research daily and need treatises and a full citator |
| Bloomberg Law | About $409.50 to $489 a seat a month for one or two seats, by quote | Sales call, annual contract | Dockets, transactional precedents and news in one seat |
| CaseSearch | $49 a month, or $24 billed yearly | Self-serve with a card, cancel anytime | Quick cited answers on case law before deciding whether a matter goes out |
Frequently asked
Questions about in-house counsel legal research tool
What are the best litigation research tools for in-house counsel?
It depends on volume. A department that researches daily is served by Westlaw, Lexis+ or Bloomberg Law, bought through sales on annual or multi-year terms. A department that needs cited case law a few times a month, mainly for early case assessment and checking outside counsel, can use CaseSearch for 49 dollars a month, or 24 billed yearly, with no contract.
Can in-house counsel use AI for legal research?
Yes, with two habits. Use a tool that returns real decisions with citations instead of unsourced prose, and keep privileged facts and names out of the question. ABA Formal Opinion 512 expects a lawyer to understand how an AI tool handles client information, and to verify its output before relying on it.
How much does legal research cost for a small legal department?
From 24 dollars a month to several hundred a seat. CaseSearch is 49 dollars a month, or 24 billed yearly, per user. Bloomberg Law runs about 409.50 to 489 dollars a seat a month for one or two seats. Westlaw and Lexis+ quote legal departments through sales, usually on multi-year terms.
Does CaseSearch replace outside counsel?
No. It answers the first question, which is what the case law says, so you can decide whether a matter needs a firm and brief that firm precisely. Strategy, filings and court appearances stay with outside counsel. CaseSearch is a research tool, not legal advice.
Keep reading
AI for litigators
Litigation AI priced by job, from research to judge analytics.
Legal research software pricing
What every major platform actually costs.
Bloomberg Law pricing
Per-seat figures and the annual escalator.
Legal citation checker
Check the cases in outside counsel's draft.
Outsourced legal research cost
What a research memo costs when you send it out.
CaseSearch pricing
Published plans, bought with a card.
Explore more
Case law search
Court opinions search
Statute search
Precedent finder
Small law firms
Solo attorneys
Paralegals
Litigation teams
Law students
CaseSearch is a legal research tool, not legal advice. Always read the full opinion and verify citations before relying on them.
Start now
Ask your next question in plain English
Get the cases, citations, and holdings that answer it in seconds. You read the opinion and verify. A research tool, not legal advice.