Legal Commentary

It's almost just a formality, but LexisNexis has officially launched Lexis for Microsoft Office. The software, which has been in very active beta for most of 2010, integrates Lexis research tools directly into Office's applications, such as Word, Outlook, and SharePoint Server.

For example, users can access case citations from Word files. A single search box offers one-click access to legal content from LexisNexis, as well as the internet and users' desktop files. Search results are displayed in a window next to the active document for review and management.

A "background" function scans Microsoft Outlook messages and Word documents for relevant "entities," such as people, companies, and cases. It provides hyperlinks to relevant documents, full-text case law, news, and other types of information.