Legal Commentary

Why doesn't legal research work more like Google? Those who have asked this question (and I have the feeling many have) have really been asking two separate questions, the front-end question and the back-end question.

Front-enders wish for a user interface for legal research as simple as Google's interface for search to replace Westlaw's home page's chaotic proliferation of search fields (I haven't used Lexis for a couple years, so I won't comment on it.) Back-enders want search algorithms that work as well as Google's web search engine, algorithms that process simple search queries, not festooned with boolean connectors like & and /p, and spit out the most relevant cases or law review articles. I remember the first time I used Google, feeling like the company had developed secret technology which could read my mind. I've never had that feeling using Westlaw.

I've thought about both of these needs for years. Four years ago, I helped launch Altlaw.org, a website that tried to offer a free and better alternative to Westlaw, one we designed to replicate the front-end simplicity of search. I haven't been actively involved in Altlaw for years, but it seems to be doing well under the leadership of the talented Stuart Sierra. Then, I published a little essay (incidentally, "the world's first law review article that is also a working computer program") in the Villanova Law Review which criticized Lexis and Westlaw for ignoring more than a decade's worth of search engine, back-end innovations.

In a series of posts, I want to provide a status update to this critique, taking into account two new developments in the legal research world. First, last year, Google added legal texts to its Google Scholar project. I recently had an illuminating conversation with Anurag Acharya, the project lead for Google Scholar. Second, Westlaw is about to launch WestlawNext, a significant upgrade, perhaps the biggest in the company's history. Through my wonderful law library, I have taken part in the beta testing project for WestlawNext, which included a briefing by our Westlaw regional rep. I'll probably also have a little to say about recent developments from Lexis, Bloomberg, and the irrepressible Carl Malamud.

Here's my executive summary: The future of legal research is very bright, and things look better than I predicted a few years ago. Both Google and Westlaw have already made significant achievements, although each company still has a long way to go, and each should recalibrate its expectations. Google needs to talk to a few more law firm associates to understand the ways that searching for a case is not like searching the web. Westlaw similarly needs to talk to more law professors, because their new product is geared almost entirely toward law firm practice, and it does not work well for other kinds of legal research.