Westlaw & LexisNexis Summer Access

Westlaw: Westlaw summer access begins on June 1st and ends on August 1st.  Students who don't qualify for an extension will have 40 hours of access per month in June and July.

To file for an extension, go to Westlaw, enter your password, and click on the extension link on the lower right side of the screen ("Need Your Westlaw Password This Summer?").

You are eligible to register for an extension if you are:

• enrolled in summer classes,
• working for an Honor Board (law review/journal or moot court),
• working for a faculty member as a research assistant, or
• doing unpaid, nonprofit public-interest internship/externship pro bono work required for graduation.

LexisNexis: Students will automatically have access to Lexis Advance during the summer.  If you haven't registered for Lexis Advance and don't have your registration e-mail, contact Melissa Joyce, LexisNexis Account Representative, for assistance.

You can use Lexis Advance for the following types of summer research:

• Summer course preparation and assignments,
• Research associated with Moot Court, Law Review, or Law Journal,
• Research associated with pursuing a grant or scholarship,
• Service as a paid or unpaid research assistant to a professor,
• An internship, externship, or clinic position for school credit or graduation requirement,
• Study for the bar exam, or
• Research skill improvement for educational purposes.

Other Electronic Resources

Don’t forget about all the other electronic resources you can use over the summer, while your Westlaw & LexisNexis access may be limited.  Take a look at the law library’s list of research databases. Students registered to return for the fall semester can access many of these databases from off campus during the summer by simply typing in their name and ID number as they appear on their Suffolk Law School IDs.  For a more comprehensive, annotated guide to doing Legal Research on the Web, including free legal research sites, take a look at this guide. 

Video Tutorials

Watch short tutorials on Bluebooking, Navigating the Law Library Online, Accessing Law Library Research Databases, Free Online Legal Databases, and using Westlaw and LexisNexis.

Legal Research Podcasts

The Suffolk University Law School Library teamed up with the Legal Practice Skills Program to create podcasts on conducting legal research. Two podcasts, on finding primary and secondary authority, are now available on iTunesU.

These legal research refreshers will remind you about the different types of primary and secondary legal authority and offer tips on how best to find them. Each podcast is under 10 minutes long and is accompanied by a downloadable PDF guide.

Research Guides and Treatises

The library's A to Z list of research guides and treatises is a good place to start your research.  Our research guides will point you to useful primary and secondary sources, both in print and online.  Treatises provide expert explanation and analysis of legal subjects and also cite primary and secondary material.

Land the Job of Your Dreams

Network: Use the West Legal Directory via Westlaw or Martindale Hubbell via LexisNexis or Martindale.com to find Suffolk grads, or graduates of your undergraduate school who are practicing law in your area of interest, in the city where you’d like to practice. Contact the Career Development Office to access the Alumni Career Network database and contact Suffolk Law grads who are practicing in your area of interest and have volunteered to talk to Suffolk law students and recent graduates.

Gather background Info: In a competitive job market doing your homework before you interview is vital. Check to see if the attorney you’re interviewing with wrote any law review or bar journal articles, was mentioned in general and legal newspapers or was the attorney of note in any cases; find opinions written by a judge you want to land a clerkship with; and check SEC filings and company profiles on Westlaw & LexisNexis.  For more detailed tips on landing the job of your dreams, see this guide and check out the display case outside the fifth floor reading room.

Ask For Help

Whether you’re doing research for a professor or getting settled into your new job, don’t hesitate to ask a Suffolk University Law School Reference Librarian for help.  Stop by the reference desk on the sixth floor of the library, straight ahead as you walk through the main doors, give us a call (617-573-8516), or send us an email (lawref@suffolk.edu).