Legal Research

New Products Due to LexisNexis / ThomsonReuters (Carswell) Competition

By Ted Tjaden

The competition between LexisNexis Quicklaw and WestlaweCARSWELL in Canada can only benefit users. In a number of areas, the companies are responding to the other by announcing new or improved products (e.g., the introduction by LexisNexis of Halsbury?s Laws of Canada appears to have Carswell reinvigorating the Canadian Encyclopedic Digest).

Another area where this has happened is in online Words and Phrases services. Although Quicklaw was first to the mark with an online service, WestlaweCARSWELL has recently added an online equivalent of its print (blue-colored) multi-volume Words and Phrases services (and I think I like it better).

Likewise, since my April 2008 SLAW posting on the increase of Canadian law-related e-books, there are a number of new e-books that have been launched that were not included in my original count, including Waters? Law of Trusts in Canada (2d) and Widdfield on Executors and Trustees (both on WestlaweCARSWELL?s Estates&TrustsSource), to name a few from that vendor, along with a number of LexisNexis Butterworth treatises available through their new IP, Immigration and Employment Practice modules, including the Waldman treatise on immigration law, the various Hughes? treatises on IP Law and even Swan?s Contract Law and Sopinka and Lederman?s Law of Evidence in Canada (2d).

All welcome additions. I had very good results recently searching Harris? Wrongful Dismissal, results that would have been difficult to achieve using only the print version.

Full post as published by Slaw.ca on October 22, 2008 (boomark / email).