Hard to believe that summer is almost here! Whether you are graduating from Duke Law this month or continuing your legal studies next year, your access to legal research services and other campus databases may change this summer. Below is a summary of policies for the major legal research databases that you might wish to access in the next few months.
Continuing Students
- Westlaw allows continuing students to use Thomson Reuters products, including Westlaw Precision and Practical Law, over the summer for non-commercial research (i.e., "to gain understanding and build confidence in your research skills, but you cannot use them in situations where you are billing a client"). Examples of permissible uses for your academic Westlaw password include the following:
- Summer coursework
- Research assistant assignments
- Law review or journal research
- Moot Court research
- Non-profit work
- Clinical work
- Externship sponsored by the school
- Lexis: All returning students have automatic, unlimited access to their Lexis law school IDs for the entire summer. Law School Lexis IDs may be used for non-commercial purposes, as well as commercial purposes if your employer permits such use.
- Bloomberg Law: Your Bloomberg Law access continues over the summer automatically. IDs may be used for non-commercial purposes, as well as commercial purposes if your employer permits such use.
Graduating Students
- Westlaw: You may opt in to Thomson Reuters products, including Westlaw and Practical Law, for six months after graduation for non-commercial use. This "Grad Elite" access allows 60 hours of usage per month to gain understanding of legal topics, build your research skills, and prepare for your bar exam.
In order to activate Grad Elite access, follow the instructions on the email received directly from West, or register online by logging into https://lawschool.thomsonreuters.com/ and clicking on your name to access Grad Elite. Please note that if you reach your 60-hour Grad Elite limit before the end of a calendar month, you will not be able to access Westlaw again until the start of the following calendar month. Use folders within Westlaw and email the contents to yourself before logging off if you are close to your 60-hour limit for a particular month. - Lexis: Spring 2024 graduates will have automatic access to Lexis+ via their Lexis law school IDs until December 31, 2024. Spring graduates have access to most of the same content and features available during law school, excluding public records, Law360, Practical Guidance and Lexis for Microsoft Office.
Graduates working in the non-profit sector may also apply for a LexisNexis ASPIRE ID which lasts for 12 months beyond graduation. Learn more about the LexisNexis Graduate programs and/or apply for an ASPIRE ID at https://lexisnexis.com/grad-access. - Bloomberg Law: Access to Bloomberg Law continues automatically for six months after graduation. Graduated students may be limited in their ability to retrieve docket filings marked "Request," update dockets, or set up docket tracking. Graduates may download docket items already uploaded in the Bloomberg system (labeled "View").
Access to most other Duke University research databases will expire upon graduation, when your status in Duke's directory changes to "Alumni." Recent graduates who register with the Duke Alumni Association for a OneLink account receive remote access to selected databases (including ProQuest ABI Inform, EBSCO Academic Search Alumni Edition, JSTOR, RefWorks citation management, and several major university press scholarship collections).
For questions about using legal research services or other Law Library/University electronic resources this summer, be sure to Ask a Librarian.