Thomson Reuters today introduced Westlaw Precision, designed to dramatically improve research speed and quality by enabling legal professionals to target precisely what they are looking for. In addition to precise searching, the new version of Westlaw offers five new capabilities including expanded KeyCite functionality and optimized workflow tools.

Legal Current highlights 10 takeaways on Westlaw Precision, which enables legal professionals to conduct research more than twice as fast and reduces the risk of missing relevant cases.

10. Thomson Reuters added 250 new attorney editors to help develop Westlaw Precision. Thomson Reuters made its largest-ever investment in editorial operations, including new attorney editors to mark up and classify case law in more useful ways. Thomson Reuters has classified legal issues with the West Key Number System for more than 100 years, and now Westlaw Precision classifies cases by issue outcome, fact pattern, motion type, motion outcome, cause of action, and party type – enabling users to specify exactly what they want and retrieve it quickly.

9. Westlaw Precision enables researchers to find cases more than twice as fast. In testing with more than 100 practicing attorneys, those who used Precision Research found relevant cases more than twice as fast as those using traditional search methods.

8. The new Westlaw version also enables researchers to find twice as many relevant cases. The same testing noted above found that at the end of their research sessions, those who used Precision Research found nearly twice as many relevant cases as those who researched with traditional methods.

7. Westlaw Precision beta testers are now users. Multiple law firms, including Shearman & Sterling LLP and Larson LLP, state courts, and corporations were part of the beta program; now, they’re using Westlaw Precision.

6. Precision Research is one of six new research capabilities in Westlaw Precision. It allows users to search, filter, browse and find legally and factually similar cases faster and more effectively.

5. KeyCite Cited With is a new research capability that shows related cases that have a pattern of being cited together even if neither cites the other.

4. Westlaw Precision includes a new red-striped flag. KeyCite Overruled in Part indicates, via a red-striped flag, that a case has been overruled in part and enables navigation directly to the language in the case discussing the point of law that has been overruled.

3. Graphical View of History displays a graphical visualization of research history, mapping out each step and highlighting the searches and documents with more research interaction.

2. Keep List/Hide Details allows users to save cases of interest and hide cases they have determined are not relevant to their current research.

1. Outline Builder enables users to easily organize research by dragging and dropping text into a customizable outline. Linked and formatted citations and KeyCite information integrate automatically, and the outline can easily be exported to begin drafting a brief.

Visit Westlaw Precision to learn more.

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