Why is Online Legal Research Crucial to a Paralegal/Legal Assistant?
Perks of using Lexis Nexis® in the Paralegal or Legal Assistant career field
Blackstone Career Institute’s Online Legal Assistant/Paralegal Career Training program includes a subscription to Lexis Nexis® for training and experience using Lexis Advanced® – the leading source for electronic legal research. Lexis Advance® has been named the “Best Legal Solution” by the 2017 SIIA CODiE Awards. These premier awards for the software and information industries referred to Lexis Advance’s® vast content, data analytics and visualization tools as “cutting-edge” and “the best in the legal industry.” It is not only a powerful resource for online legal research, it is also designed for simple usage, ease in navigating, and efficiency in anticipating your research path.
Benefits of Lexis Nexis®
- Access to more than 60,000 trusted legal, news, business, and public records sources
- Color-coded search terms to help you find relevant facts, fast!
- Simple-to-use graphical analysis tools to visualize your results
- Over 140+ years of service
- Mobile Access
- Friendly and personalized Help Center available
New to the Paralegal Field?
Maybe you are not familiar with what Lexis Nexis® is and how it is used in the Paralegal/Legal Assistant field. Simply put, Legal assistants, also known as paralegals, are a distinguishable group of individuals who assist attorneys in the delivery of legal services. Through formal education, training and experience, legal assistants have knowledge and expertise regarding the legal system and substantive and procedural law which qualify them to do work of a legal nature under the supervision of an attorney. A large part of a Paralegal’s job description consists of legal research and legal writing.
Lexis Nexis® is the key tool Paralegal’s use to access the largest collection of legal news, public records, and legal, regulatory and industry information. Beyond enabling access to any needed facts with great efficiency, Nexis® also helps portray how those facts fit together.
Why is Online Legal Research crucial to a Paralegal/Legal Assistant?
Paralegals are not the only industry that relies on data analytics and research. For example, financial businesses and corporations use advanced analytics to identify and target possible areas of risk. Even professional sports teams rely on analytics to form opinions and decisions on strategies like player selection, fitness routines, and calling plays during a game.
Attorneys rely on analytics based on case law and opinions to better prepare arguments and develops smarter litigation strategies. As a paralegal using this tool can help benefit your job and skills in the following ways:
- In visualizing, predicating and understanding data
- Assurance of the usage of good law
- Ability to turn reaches into action and next steps
- Time saver, easily accessible from any device and location
Included with Blackstone Career Institute’s Online Paralegal Training Program
Once students reach Unit 11 – Legal Research and Writing – they will receive access to their Lexis Nexis® account. The Assignment through Lexis Advanced® Student Membership includes 13 online training sessions, or video modules, that unlock the potential of the research tools available at lexis.com®. This also includes training with Shepard’s® Citations Service where students learn the process of verifying the status of federal case law, case law from all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, regulations,
state constitutional provisions, and more.
One advantage of your student membership is the ability to search by Headnote. Find an entire overview on a topic, including in-depth case discussions within this online legal research database. LexisNexis® Total Litigator presents sources used to accomplish the tasks involved in the litigation process. And finally, you will receive training and practice in using the Counsel Selector to find lawyer/law firm profiles, including peer review ratings and transactional activity.
Completion of this program results in the opportunity to become LexisNexis® certified, which may open up more job prospects and increase your job skills marketability. An excellent addition to your resume could be LexisNexis certification along with certification from an Accredited and reputable paralegal career training program, like Blackstone Career Institute. If you are interested in becoming LexisNexis certified and have not enrolled in Blackstone’s online Paralegal/Legal Assistant Career Training program, please contact us today!
