Westlaw

Westlaw is a platform that was created by Thomson Reuters to be used to provide information about legal research and law practice management. It is a service for lawyers and legal professionals to aid in their research of their cases. The original platform was known as Westlaw Classic and the newest one is called Westlaw Edge.

The platform contains data regarding judges, courts, attorneys, law firms, and case types. Users can also access information about primary law, secondary sources, and litigation materials. It uses artificial intelligence for its search feature as well as document and litigation analysis and citation tool.There is also a tool that alerts a legal professional when there could possibly be an overruling risk in their case.

Westlaw can be accessed with a free trial, after which the legal professional needs to pay a monthly subscription fee. The fee is dependent upon features to which the legal professional wants access, the size of the firm, and whether the legal professionals wanting access are part of a corporation or government.

The company was founded in 1992 under the name West Publishing and was acquired by the Thomson Corporation in 1996. The platform itself has evolved from previous software programs, such as QUIC/LAW, a legal software research program. That program was commercialized by QL Systems and was eventually licensed to present-day Westlaw. The software continued evolving and there were products such as Westmate and then WestlawNext in 2010. The different software programs were designed with updated technology being integrated into them. The Westlaw platform was retired in 2015 and WestlawNext was renamed Thomas Reuters Westlaw in 2016.

Steve Hasker is the President, CEO, and a director of Thomas Reuters. He has worked in other fields, such as private equity and data and management. He is also a chartered accountant. Hasker came into these positions following Jim Smith in 2020.