Lawtel is a subscription-based online legal research 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.
Contents
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 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 '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. Lawtel continues to remain a separate service within the Sweet & Maxwell portfolio, positioned as a companion service to Westlaw. 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, Privy Council, Court of Appeal (Civil), Court of Appeal (Criminal), High Court, selected tribunals, Crown Court, and the County Court.
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