Skip to main content
Tools

Attorney Finder: Find outside or local counsel

Corporate legal departments and law firms often need to find and evaluate attorneys in other jurisdictions based on their expertise. Finding an attorney is easier than ever with the new Attorney Finder in Litigation Analytics. Save time analyzing and selecting an attorney by applying filters, changing the motion type, or sorting by what matters most to you.

How Attorney Finder can be used

  • Locate an attorney without using an existing referral network
  • Verify a potential attorney referral
  • Compare 2 attorneys based on your set criteria
  • Corporate: Find local or outside counsel based on case type and jurisdiction
  • Law firm: Find local counsel in a particular jurisdiction with specific case-type expertise

How to find outside counsel

Corporate legal departments often need to find outside counsel with experience in a specific jurisdiction and practice area. Attorney Finder on Westlaw Precision makes it easy to locate and analyze these experts.
Let’s look at an example where corporate counsel is looking for an attorney with experience in trademark litigation who practices in Washington state and federal courts.

Searching by expertise and jurisdiction

  1. Begin on the homepage of Westlaw Precision and select the
    Litigation Analytics tile
     within the
    Key Features
     section.
  2. Within the
    Attorneys tab
    , select the radio button for
    By expertise
    .
  3. Select on
    + Select case type(s)
    . You can either search for the
    case type by term
     or
    select from the list in Case types
    . Once you’ve made your selection, select
    Continue
    .
  4. Select your jurisdiction by
    selecting the hyperlink
    ,
    choosing your jurisdiction
    , and selecting
    Save
    . Select the
    magnifying glass
     or select
    enter
     to begin your search.

Reviewing and filtering results

You may:
  • Toggle between federal and state results.
  • Sort in several different ways including via number of dockets, name, or most experience with clients that are plaintiff or defendant
  • You can also change the type of motion you’re reviewing by selecting Change motion type
  • On the left side of the page you can filter your results in several ways including by Case Type, Court, Judge, Attorney, Law Firm, Firm Size, and more.
Let’s say that the attorney you’re interested in should have experience in trademark law and you want them to primarily represent defendants. To obtain the desired results, change the sort to Defense: highest to lowest and the Case type to Trademark/Trade Name.
Once you find an attorney you’re interested in reviewing further, select the hyperlink for their name.

Reviewing an attorney

  1. Once you select on an attorney’s name, you’ll be taken to an Overview of their profile.
  2. The Overview provides information on their Experience and Recent Activity for dockets and motions.
  3. You’ll find their representation, contact information, education, practice areas and more.
  4. You can filter the overview information by case type, jurisdiction, judge, filing role and filing date.
  5. For more detailed information about the attorney, select one of the tabs for Experience, Outcome, Motions or References

This article applies to:

  • Product: Westlaw Advantage
  • Subject: Research