Pearson Education has teamed-up with VersusLaw® to provide paralegal and legal studies students with FREE on-line legal research access.

One-semester subscription access code cards (0-13-118514-4) can be packaged with any Pearson Legal Studies title. The VersusLaw subscription through Pearson provides students with access that allows them to work from the dorm, home, library, or anywhere there is an Internet connection.

With the FREE Pearson Legal Series subscription, students receive online access to archive and current opinions from the following courts. Search through decisions from:

• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals
• Federal District Court
• State Appellate Court
• Tribal Courts
• Foreign Courts

FAQs

How do I get VersusLaw?

Professors: Contact your Prentice Hall Sales representative. To find your sales rep, use our online Rep Locator: http://vig.prenhall.com/replocator/
Students: ask your instructor.

What does it cost?

The 4-month student subscription to the Standard VersusLaw Plan is free to students using a Pearson Legal Series textbook in their courses.

What is included?

Access to U.S. Supreme Court, all Federal Circuit Courts, the appellate courts of all 50 states, and selected Federal District Courts.

What browser configuration do I need?

You will get the best results if you use the most recent browser from Netscape (Communicator) or from Microsoft (Internet Explorer). Both are free for personal use and available for download if they are not already on your computer.
Netscape Communicator
Microsoft Internet Explorer

How many people can use VersusLaw at one time?

The license allows for one user per ID number.

What are the steps in conducting a search in VersusLaw?

Step 1: Select Library to Search
Step 2: Design a Query
Step 3: Submit the Query/View the Results
Step 4: Refine the Query (if necessary)
Step 5: Print or Download a Document

Where can I get more help in using VersusLaw?

On line help is available on the VersusLaw site. Once you have logged into the site, click on the Help box at the top of the page. A downloadable research manual is also available through the help box on the VersusLaw site.

How can I Shepardize® case law?

On the VersusLaw site, search the case name or case citation through the body of the case law. You will retrieve all the cases that have cited your case. Look at the only the most recent cases to determine if that case is good law.

What are the similarities and differences in conducting searches in other services?

Search Operator Comparison Grid
	VersusLaw	LEXIS	Westlaw
Connectors	and	and	and, &
	or	or	or, space
	and not	and not	but not, %
Proximity operators	w/n	w/n	w/n, /n
	w/n	pre/n	pre/n, +n
Exact phrase match	unlawful entry	unlawful entry	"unlawful entry"
Wild Cards - end of root words	*	!	!
Wild Cards - single character	?	*	*
Order of operators	proximity operators, and not, and, or	proximity operators, and, and not, or	or, proximity operators, and, but not
The order of operators refers to the order in which the search engine combines the search terms to resolve the search. Depending on the combination of operators you have used, you may need parentheses to correctly organize your search. (Hint: if you have used the same search operator throughout your search, you will probably not need parentheses. But if you have combined conjunctive connectors - and, w/n - with disjunctive connectors - or - you probably will need parentheses.) The proximity operators are operated upon as equals. Here is how the order of operators affects your search. If trying to retrieve cases discussing negligence or assumption of the risk related to jaywalking, here is how you would resolve the search on the three different systems: On VersusLaw: (negligen* or (assum* w/5 risk)) and jaywalk* On LEXIS: negligen! or (assum! w/5 risk) and jaywalk! On Westlaw: negligen! or (assum! /5 risk) & jaywalk!

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