15 Best Legal Research Software

Legal research software is the foundation of how to do legal research. If you’re a law student, a paralegal, or an attorney, you probably use some kind of legal research software daily. This software helps you find the laws, cases, and regulations you need to build your legal arguments. But not all legal research software is created equal. Some are better than others. And the best legal research software can save you time and help you work more efficiently. This guide how to do legal research? will help you discover the best legal research software so you can research and write faster with AI.  When it comes to legal research, time is of the essence. 

The quicker you can find the information you need, the better. That’s why using the best legal research software is crucial. Not only will it help you find information quickly, but it will also help you understand complex legal concepts so you can get back to your case. With the help of AI, you can now research and write faster than ever before. AI research and writing partners are designed to assist you with your legal research and writing tasks. 

They can help you find relevant cases, statutes, and regulations quickly. They can also help you draft legal documents, so you don’t have to start from scratch. This technology is still new, but it’s already making a significant impact on the legal industry. Shortly, Otio's AI research and writing partner will become a standard tool for legal professionals. So, if you want to stay ahead of the curve, now is the time to start using them.

Table Of Contents

• Importance of Legal Research

• Benefits of Using Legal Research Software

• 8 Tips for Legal Research

• 15 Best Legal Research Software

• Supercharge Your Researching Ability With Otio — Try Otio for Free Today

Importance of Legal Research

The Importance of Legal Research can be an excellent help for lawyers to streamline their matters or address an issue without any significant trouble. 

1. Gives Accurate 

Good legal research covers more than half of the matter and gives you more confidence in presenting the whole issue in front of the authority without any trouble or second thought. It helps you in winning the matter without any complications. With proper research and information, you can easily fight back against the opponent with strong counterarguments. 

2. Gives Full 

Knowledge about the case, whether it be a matter or a general issue, a lawyer must have answers for the same in front of the jury. It can be a question or a statement, but as a lawyer, you should be answerable to the authority to maintain a good image of yourself in front of your client as well as the authority. The lawyer must explain the information and evidence of the matter the lawyer is presenting. Good legal research enables lawyers to make the most of a matter or case. 

3. Simplifies Issue 

Unnecessary data gets eliminated when you go through the legal research process. You can analyze and understand the different aspects of the issue and how to deal with them. Some matters may appear complicated at first, but with proper legal research, they can be broken down into simplified, manageable pieces, which helps lawyers easily navigate the whole complication without much trouble. 

4. Provides More Value 

A strong case is easily presented and showcases the lawyer's hard work over the past days and months. It reflects a good image of the lawyer or attorney. Legal research helps deliver more value to the authority by submitting core evidence and details related to the matter. Once you have the research work done, things get clearer as you understand the different situations that can take place in the court. It gives you more power to present relevant proof.

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Benefits of Using Legal Research Software

1. Increased Efficiency

Legal research software significantly boosts efficiency by automating time-consuming manual tasks. This enables legal professionals to concentrate on more critical aspects of their work, thereby enhancing overall productivity.

2. Cost Savings

By reducing the need for manual labor and eliminating paper-based processes, legal research software helps firms save money. These cost savings can be redirected towards other important areas within the organization.

3. Improved Accuracy

Legal technology minimizes human errors and enhances precision in tasks such as contract drafting and compliance monitoring. This leads to more accurate outcomes and reduces legal risks.

4. Enhanced Access to Justice

Technology makes legal services more affordable and accessible, helping to bridge the gap for those who might otherwise be unable to afford representation.

5. Faster Decision-Making

With real-time access to critical information, legal professionals can make faster, more informed decisions. This is particularly important in high-stakes situations where timing is crucial.

6. Improved Client Service

Legal software facilitates better communication and collaboration with clients, leading to higher satisfaction levels. It also enables personalized legal advice tailored to individual client needs.

7. Increased Productivity

By automating repetitive tasks, legal research software allows lawyers to devote more time to substantive legal work, thereby increasing productivity.

8. Environmental Sustainability

Reducing reliance on paper-based processes helps decrease the environmental impact of legal operations, contributing to sustainability efforts.

Using legal research software not only benefits legal professionals but also positively impacts clients and the environment. It is a wise investment for any law firm or legal department.

8 Tips for Legal Research

1. Use Otio to Simplify Your Legal Research 

Content overload is a real problem for knowledge workers, researchers, and students. Legal researchers are no exception. Luckily, Otio provides one AI-native workspace to help researchers collect, extract, and create from a wide range of data sources. You can collect data from bookmarks, tweets, books, and even YouTube videos. 

Once your data is collected, Otio helps you extract key takeaways with detailed AI-generated notes and source-grounded Q&A chat. Finally, Otio assists you with creating draft outputs using your collected sources. This not only helps you go from reading list to first draft faster, but it also enables you to write research papers or legal memoranda with ease. 

2. Gather Critical Information About Your Legal Issue 

Before you dive into your legal research, take a step back and gather critical information about your legal issue. Recording the who, what, when, where, and how of your case will help you establish a more focused and streamlined research process. 

3. Establish Your Legal Issue and Your Goal 

Use the critical information you gathered to pinpoint your legal and ethical issue and establish your research goals. This will help you identify what you already know, what you need to find out, and the jurisdiction within which you need to conduct your research. 

4. Learn and Understand the Precedent in Your Jurisdiction 

Pay close attention to the jurisdiction where your legal issue will be resolved. Determine whether the precedent you find is controlling or merely persuasive within your jurisdiction.  

5. Determine the Type of Legal Sources You Need 

Legal research involves three types of sources: 

• Primary, 

• Secondary 

• Tertiary. 

Primary sources establish the current law and include constitutions, statutes, treaties, regulations, and case law. Secondary sources interpret legal principles and summarize the state of the law. 

Examples include law review articles, practice guides, and legal treatises. Tertiary sources provide basic background information and include dictionaries and encyclopedias.  

6. Begin Your Legal Research with Secondary Sources 

Starting with secondary sources provides you with the necessary background information and saves time by leveraging the expert research that others have already conducted. 

7. Check That You’re Using “Good” Law 

Verify that the cases and statutes you find are still valid and relevant using a citator tool. This will help you avoid relying on overruled or unconstitutional laws that could undermine your credibility.  

8. Report Your Results to Check for Gaps 

Compile your research into a legal memorandum to identify any information gaps. This will help you make an informed assessment of the outcome of your case.

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15 Best Legal Research Software

1. Otio: AI-Native Workspace for Researchers

Knowledge workers, researchers, and students today suffer from content overload and are left to deal with it using fragmented, complex, and manual tooling. Too many of them settle for stitching together complicated bookmarking, read-it-late, and note-taking apps to get through their workflows. Now that anyone can create content with the click of a button, this problem is only going to get worse. Otio solves this problem by providing one AI-native workspace for researchers. It helps them:

• Collect: a wide range of data sources, from bookmarks, tweets, and extensive books to YouTube videos.

• Extract key takeaways: with detailed AI-generated notes and source-grounded Q&A chat.

• Create: draft outputs using the sources you’ve collected. 

Otio helps you go from reading list to first draft faster. Along with this, Otio also enables you to write research papers/essays faster. Here are our top features that researchers love: AI-generated notes on all bookmarks (YouTube videos, PDFs, articles, etc.), Otio enables you to chat with individual links or entire knowledge bases, just like you chat with ChatGPT, as well as AI-assisted writing. 

Our tool features web scraping capabilities, enabling you to access a wide range of data sources beyond traditional academic papers and search engines. This feature allows researchers to collect diverse information from various sources, including bookmarks, tweets, books, and YouTube videos, thereby streamlining the process of curating and analyzing data for research purposes. Let Otio be your AI research and writing partner — Try Otio for free today! 

2.  Lex Machina: Legal Analytics Software

Lex Machina is a legal analytics software that combines AI and human reviewers to deliver insights on case outcomes and resolutions. The platform maintains an up-to-date database of cases, enabling accurate analysis. 

Key features

• Advanced legal analytics 

• Massive database of court rulings 

• Provides outcome analytics 

• Has an API for integration with other systems 

Price

• Not provided 

Pros

• Makes legal research faster 

• Intuitive interface 

• Great for intellectual property lawyers 

Cons

• Pricing may not be suitable for solo lawyers or small firms 

• Customer service needs improvement 

3. CoCounsel: OpenAI Powered Large Language Model for Lawyers

CoCounsel is a large language model powered by OpenAI. This AI legal assistant tool is knowledgeable, reliable, and secure enough to support the practice of law. What sets this tool apart from other large language models is that it was trained for the law. 

Attorneys and AI specialists have rigorously and repeatedly tested this OpenAI-powered solution tailored to lawyers’ needs and reliable and secure enough to meet the highest bar. 

CoCounsel uses dedicated servers to access GPT-4, meaning your data isn’t sent to “train” the model as part of publicly accessible knowledge. 

Pros 

• Easy to use 

• Can copy and paste citations to documents 

• More affordable compared to other apps 

Cons

• Contract drafting can be improved 

• acks depth in creating outlines and summaries 

4. ChatGPT: Conversational AI for Legal Research and Content Generation

Developed by OpenAI, this conversational AI platform provides lawyers with a flexible research and content generation resource. While not specifically a legal AI tool, ChatGPT's language model enables legal professionals to synthesize information quickly, draft preliminary documents, and explore complex legal concepts through interactive dialogue. 

Pros

• Rapidly generates content across diverse legal topics. 

• Efficiently summarizes lengthy documents into digestible formats. 

• Supports quick gathering of legal information and initial research. 

Cons

• Potential inaccuracies in legal-specific contexts. 

• Requires manual verification of generated content. 

5. Claude AI: Document Analysis and Contract Review

Developed by Anthropic, this AI software for lawyers excels in breaking down complex legal documents, extracting key insights, and providing precise interpretations of intricate legal language. 

Its capability to read up to 75,000 words enables comprehensive document analysis, making it particularly valuable for contract review, due diligence, and risk management. The AI's strength lies in its ability to identify critical contract provisions, offer nuanced insights, and support legal professionals in navigating regulatory compliance with remarkable accuracy. 

Pros

• Provides detailed explanations alongside solutions 

• Offers comprehensive document analysis capabilities 

• Generates innovative ideas with high accuracy 

Cons

• Occasionally produces overly detailed responses 

• Sometimes misses legal nuances 

6. Genie AI: AI Legal Assistant for Document Drafting and Review

Genie AI is an AI legal assistant that helps with drafting, editing, and reviewing legal documents such as contracts, letters, policies, and clauses. It allows for collaboration on documents and is compatible with most document formats. 

Pros

• Ease of use 

• Customizable templates 

• Open-source access 

Cons

• Reported cases of biased information 

• The search feature can be improved 

7. Auto-GPT: Experimental AI Agent for Complex Task Automation

Auto-GPT is an experimental AI agent built on GPT-4. It is designed to execute complex tasks with minimal human intervention autonomously. Although not specifically legal, the innovative legal AI tool enables lawyers to automate legal drafting, research, and information gathering through sophisticated AI-driven workflows. 

Leveraging large language models, Auto-GPT can create, prioritize, and execute tasks with internet access and advanced memory management, offering unprecedented automation potential for legal professionals. 

Pros

• Autonomous task execution with minimal oversight. 

• Comprehensive research capabilities. 

• Flexible integration possibilities. 

Cons

• Requires careful output verification. 

• API costs can accumulate quickly. 

8. Ever Law: Cloud-native eDiscovery and Legal Research for Litigators

Everlaw is a cloud-native e-discovery and legal research tool for litigation attorneys and legal teams. Its primary function is to help users find and review data used as case evidence. The platform claims to handle fast document processing (up to 90k documents per hour) to assist large-scale investigations. 

Pros

• Straightforward user interface 

• Great customer service 

• Customizable workflows 

Cons

• Issues handling large PDF files 

• Some reports of technical glitches 

9. Smith.AI: Virtual Receptionist with AI Capabilities

This AI tool is a virtual receptionist service that can help lawyers and law firms manage phone calls and client inquiries. It uses natural language processing to manage phone calls, screen leads, and schedule appointments, enabling legal firms to enhance client engagement and operational efficiency. With 24/7 live chat and custom AI chatbots, Smith.ai provides a comprehensive communication solution for legal practices seeking to maximize meaningful client interaction. 

Pros

• Round-the-clock client engagement capabilities. 

• Seamless integration with existing systems. 

• Improved lead conversion rates. 

Cons

• Occasional response relevancy issues. 

• Limited customization for specialized practices. 

10. Diligen: AI Contract Analysis for Legal Departments

Diligen is one of the good AI tools for attorneys used for contract analysis that can help legal professionals review and interpret legal memos and documents, including contracts, leases, and other legal forms. 

Employing advanced machine learning algorithms, this platform transforms legal document review by identifying key clauses, provisions, and critical terms with remarkable precision. Designed to enhance legal work, Diligen supports legal departments in maintaining document consistency, reducing errors, and streamlining contract review processes across various practice areas. 

Pros

• Robust contract analysis with high accuracy rates. 

• User-friendly interface with intuitive navigation. 

• Comprehensive document management capabilities. 

Cons

• Limited public pricing information. 

• Potential customization constraints. 

11. Harvey: Legal AI Assistant for Document Drafting and Analysis

Harvey is a legal AI assistant that supports multiple legal tasks like drafting documents, analyzing contracts, gaining legal insights, and collaborating with team members. 

Pros

• Fast response time 

• Great document automation feature 

• Can be customized to fit a specific law practice 

Cons

• Takes time to learn 

• Too costly for small firms 

12. Microsoft CoPilot: Generative AI Integration for Microsoft 365

Microsoft Copilot integrates generative AI across the Microsoft ecosystem, offering legal professionals a comprehensive productivity enhancement tool. Although it is not specifically legal, it can be used as one of the AI legal research tools. 

Copilot streamlines document creation, research, and collaboration within familiar Microsoft applications using advanced natural language processing. The AI assistant provides intelligent suggestions, automates time-consuming tasks, and enhances overall legal workflow efficiency through seamless integration with Microsoft 365. 

Pros

• Seamless Microsoft 365 integration. 

• Efficient research and document generation. 

• Regular updates and improvements. 

Cons 

• Requires existing 

• Microsoft 365 subscription. 

• Variable response quality for complex legal tasks. 

13. Patent Pal: AI Patent Application Drafting

PatentPal is an AI-powered tool for drafting patent applications. It enables patent attorneys to quickly write and even automate drafts of patent applications, generating detailed descriptions, abstracts, claims, and figures. 

Pros

• Minimalist design for focused writing 

• Flexible writing styles 

• Can switch between multiple profiles 

Cons

• Takes time to learn 

• Limited to patent documentation 

14.  Relativity: Electronic Discovery and Legal Data Management

Relativity is one of the best legally assured tools out there for electronic discovery and legal data management. The software provides robust search, legal analytics, and machine learning capabilities, enabling legal teams to efficiently process, review, and produce documents across complex investigations. With seamless cloud and on-premise deployment, Relativity offers a versatile solution for corporate litigation, internal investigations, and compliance management. 

Pros

• Comprehensive e-discovery capabilities. 

• Strong security and compliance features. 

• Regular platform updates and improvements. 

Cons 

• Complex interface requiring significant training. 

• Resource-intensive for larger document sets. 

15. Blue J: AI Tax Research

Blue J is a tax research tool powered by AI. It generates verifiable answers to questions about tax laws, enabling tax attorneys and their teams to access information in seconds and better serve their clients. 

Pros

• More in-depth answers compared to other tax research tools, updated database 

Cons

• State tax law coverage can be improved 

• Doesn’t offer tax calculation features

Supercharge Your Researching Ability With Otio — Try Otio for Free Today

When it comes to legal research, content overload is a real problem. There are so many sources out there that it can be challenging to know where to start, let alone how to organize everything you find. That’s where Otio comes in. Otio is an AI-native research tool that helps you collect, extract, and create from a wide range of data sources. This includes everything from bookmarks and tweets to books and YouTube videos. In other words, Otio can help you make sense of the chaos that is legal research so you can focus on what matters, winning your case.  

Collecting Legal Research Data with Otio

The first step in any research process is gathering your sources. With Otio, you can collect information from a variety of places, including:

• Bookmarks 

• Tweets Books 

• YouTube videos and much more... 

Once you’ve added your sources, Otio will help you organize them so you can easily find what you need later on. 

Extracting Key Takeaways from Legal Research Sources

After collecting your sources, the next step is to extract the vital information. This is where Otio shines. Using advanced AI algorithms, Otio can generate detailed notes and summaries for each of your sources. These notes are fully searchable and include citations, so you can easily refer back to them when needed. In addition, Otio allows you to ask questions about your sources and get answers that are grounded in the original content. This makes it easy to clarify any confusing points and ensure you’ve understood everything correctly. 

Creating Legal Documents with Otio  

Once you’ve completed your research, Otio can help you create legal documents using the information you’ve gathered. Whether you’re drafting a motion, a brief, or a contract, Otio will assist you in putting together a well-written, accurate document that meets your needs. Using Otio for legal research is like having a personal assistant who takes care of all the tedious tasks, allowing you to focus on the critical matters. Try it for free today and see how it can help you work smarter, not harder.

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