Legal Research Databases   Tags: academic password, casemaker, legal research, lexis, password restrictions, westlaw  

This guide describes the major legal research databases available to law students- Westlaw, Lexis, Casemaker and Bloomberg Law.  Here is a chart comparing the similarities and differences between Westlaw, Lexis and Bloomberg Law.

The Law Library pays an annual subscription to both Lexis and Westlaw based on the number of enrolled law students.  We are charged a discounted academic rate and in return for this access, Lexis and Westlaw place restrictions on the use of the passwords by law students.   Casemaker and Bloomberg Law are free for law students and there are no academic restrictions on use.  For more information about these restrictions, information on summer access or access after graduation, click on the database tab above.

Tutorials, guides, and other helpful information are listed under each tab.

Law students receive their passwords during orientation in August.  If you are a transfer law student, transient law student or a LL.M. student, please contact Lynn Lenart to arrange to pick up your passwords.

In addition to sanctions by the School of Law, a contract violation can result in having to pay the vendors for the services misused at commercial rates.  Moreover, violators are likely to lose their privileges to use LEXIS and WESTLAW as students.  A pattern of violations at our school could result in the vendors canceling our contracts, which would have a devastating impact on all students and faculty.

Your employer should not put pressure on you to use your academic passwords for your job.  This would put you in violation of your agreement with Lexis/Westlaw and violation of the School of Law Student Disciplinary Code. 

In some states, the attorney could be found to have violated professional ethics.  See the Utah State Bar Ethics Advisory Opinion on the unethical practice of attorneys asking law students to use their academic Lexis and Westlaw accounts to conduct legal research for work.