Lawtel is a subscription-based online legal research

Legal research

Legal research is "the process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to support legal decision-making. In its broadest sense, legal research includes each step of a course of action that begins with an analysis of the facts of a problem and concludes with the application and...

 tool that provides subscribers with access to a range of legal information. Used primarily by solicitors, barristers and legal researchers, it covers cases and judgments, legislation, articles and press cuttings, and online precedents.

One of the most popular Lawtel services is Daily Updates. Subscribers choose from 100 subject areas to receive the latest news pertinent to their practice area.

Lawtel provides same day reporting for the Supreme Court

Supreme Court of the United Kingdom

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is the supreme court in all matters under English law, Northern Ireland law and Scottish civil law. It is the court of last resort and highest appellate court in the United Kingdom; however the High Court of Justiciary remains the supreme court for criminal...

 and overnight coverage of selected cases from the higher courts.

History

Lawtel was created in 1980 by a Liverpool solicitor, Graham Ross, and demonstrated at the second annual conference of the Society for Computers and Law, where he was a speaker. Subsequently that year he was joined by a retired barrister, Gerald Impey. Together they set up a Manx company

Manx law

The legal system on the Isle of Man is Manx customary law, a form of common law. Manx law originally derived from Gaelic Brehon law and Norse Udal law...

 'Lawtel Limited', from which Ross resigned a year later. Impey stayed on in various roles until his death in November 1999. In 1994, Lawtel was acquired by Centaur Communications Ltd.

In 2002, Lawtel was acquired by Sweet & Maxwell

Sweet & Maxwell

Sweet & Maxwell is a British publisher specialising in legal publications. It joined the Associated Book Publishers in 1969; ABP was purchased by the Thomson Organization in 1987, and is now part of Thomson Reuters. Its British group includes W. Green in Scotland and Round Hall in Ireland...

. Lawtel continues to remain a separate service within the Sweet & Maxwell portfolio, positioned as a companion service to Westlaw

Westlaw

Westlaw is one of the primary online legal research services for lawyers and legal professionals in the United States and is a part of West. In addition, it provides proprietary database services...

. Currently Lawtel has 90000 subscribers, ranging from sole practitioners to universities and corporations.

Lawtel In Detail

The Lawtel service is divided up into sections: cases, legislation, articles and press, and specialist areas.
Subscribers have access to around 60,000 case reports and the service is updated daily. Cases are reported from the Supreme Court

Supreme Court of the United Kingdom

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is the supreme court in all matters under English law, Northern Ireland law and Scottish civil law. It is the court of last resort and highest appellate court in the United Kingdom; however the High Court of Justiciary remains the supreme court for criminal...

, Privy Council

Privy Council of the United Kingdom

Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...

, Court of Appeal

Court of Appeal of England and Wales

The Court of Appeal of England and Wales is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom above it...

 (Civil), Court of Appeal

Court of Appeal of England and Wales

The Court of Appeal of England and Wales is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom above it...

 (Criminal), High Court

High Court of Justice

The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...

, selected tribunals, Crown Court

Crown Court

The Crown Court of England and Wales is, together with the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal, one of the constituent parts of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...

, and the County Court

County Court

A county court is a court based in or with a jurisdiction covering one or more counties, which are administrative divisions within a country, not to be confused with the medieval system of county courts held by the High Sheriff of each county.-England and Wales:County Court matters can be lodged...

.

Lawtel allows subscribers to track the progress of a piece of legislation, and search for legislation that has already become law.

It offers a full text document delivery service for judgments dating back to 1980. Subscribers can read unofficial transcripts and track specific cases. It also delivers updates on legislation and cases to a subscriber’s inbox, via the Daily Updates service.

Lawtel also offers services for specific practice areas. These include: The Busy Solicitor’s Digest, EU, FirstPoint, Employment, Human Rights, Lawtel Litigator, Local Government, Kemp on Lawtel, and Personal Injury.

The Impact of Lawtel on Legal Publishing in the UK

Laurence Eastham, Editor of the Society of Computers and Law journal C&L, commented upon the sale of Lawtel to Sweet & Maxwell that:

"Lawtel undoubtedly made others improve, and move more rapidly than might otherwise have been natural to them. A large number of practising solicitors have been recruited to the need for updated online information by Lawtel... [i]n short, they made a difference" C&L August/September 2002, p.2