The largest virtual legal community, Counsel Connect, has had financial difficulties, despite having 26,000 paid subscribers. Recently, West Group shelved its own service, The West Network, after disappointing results. This online service is in many ways similar to Counsel Connect, with the added feature of Lexis-Nexis's information databases. Lexis officials hope that the service will allow attorneys to network with their peers, participate in expert-led forums and discussion groups, and even exchange documents in a secure environment. While it is unclear whether the present incarnations of Counsel Connect and Lexis-Nexis Xchange will prosper, the growing importance of the Internet suggests that it will lead an inevitable trend toward online research.
Successful research requires the linking of thoughts and ideas to solid legal references.
Virtual communities may prove to be the ultimate link in the evolution of legal research. Copyright 1997, Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine . All Rights Reserved.