You’ve done your research, but still, there’s the nagging question…was it enough? When you are drafting a pleading, or working through how to position an argument for a motion, are you considering the issues currently in front of the courts or pending legislative actions?

It’s imperative that you know the latest developments on issues relevant to your clients or when legislative action could affect their business. Staying up to date on these developments can inform your strategy and help you make the most effective, and winning, arguments.

Consider this common scenario:

Carmen is an attorney at a boutique firm in New York. Her practice focuses on Bankruptcy in the Eastern District. She has a client who is considering filing for bankruptcy but doesn’t want to proceed if one particularly large debt won’t be discharged. The outcome will hinge on how the court interprets a particular term in the bankruptcy statutes. The case law is there for either side. Filing could possibly just cost her client legal fees and time, and in the end, her client might still have to repay the large debt that was not dischargeable. This is the kind of uncertainty attorneys face every day.

This morning, Carmen signed in to WestlawNext. She uses the new Practitioner Insights as her start page. She logs in every morning so she can see the latest developments in her practice area — bankruptcy. One of the Westlaw Daily Briefings provided analysis on a ruling that came down just yesterday. This ruling interpreted the very term in the Bankruptcy Statutes that had been perplexing Carmen. With this information, Carmen has more confidence in the likely outcome of her client’s case.

Are You Effectively Monitoring Your Practice Area for Emerging and Critical Developments?

When you draft a complaint or memorandum for your client, it’s simply not enough to review the most recent case law on the issues. You need to know the issues currently in front of the courts, whether a brief or motion might be filed soon, if a decision or ruling is coming down soon, and any developments that could affect your strategy.

Legal current awareness is not a “nice-to-have,” it is a “must-have” in today’s unpredictable and competitive environment. WestlawNext Practitioner Insights is the new, legal current awareness product designed to keep you in the know on emerging legal developments in your practice area.

This new, single access point on WestlawNext offers exclusive insights and analysis in the areas of employment, intellectual property, securities, bankruptcy, health law and antitrust. Practitioner Insights delivers exclusive content and expert analysis including the latest from Westlaw Daily Briefings, Reuters Legal, Wolters Kluwer Daily Reporting Suite, and CQ Roll Call Washington Briefings. Westlaw® Daily Briefings provide analysis from Thomson Reuters attorney-editors monitoring the practice-areas so you never miss emerging developments.

Remaining informed on critical developments has never been easier - or more important. Set Practitioner Insights as your start page on WestlawNext so you start off each day informed — like Carmen.

Take the next step — learn more about WestlawNext, including Practitioner Insights, using these resources:

Try WestlawNext for free to see why more than 48,000 legal organizations use it.

Learn more about Practitioner Insights and download a PDF brochure you can share with your colleagues.