LexisCheck

General

What is LexisCheck?

LexisCheck ensures that legal references are accurate. LexisCheck automatically validates legal references to ensure they have not been superseded by later judgments or legislation. It can be used on Word documents and web content. LexisCheck also provides seamless linking through to cited cases and legislation in LexisLibrary with related commentary and further information available also.

 

How do I install LexisCheck?

Once you have registered for the year-long LexisCheck trial on this site, you will be guided through the download and installation process.

 

Please ensure Protected Mode is turned off in Internet Explorer when you download and install LexisCheck for Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating systems. Failure to do so will affect your Internet Explorer browser.

How to turn off protected mode in Windows Vista and Windows 7?

In Internet Explorer click Tools > Internet Options, then go to the Security tab.  Uncheck the Protected Mode checkbox and click ‘OK’

 

 

You will see the mode set to “Off” in the bottom ‘status bar’ of your Internet Explorer browser.

 

How do I use LexisCheck?

LexisCheck is easy and intuitive to use. If you do need more guidance, take a look at the user guides to the right of this page. The LexisCheck Web functionality is similar to the snapshot view in LexisCheck Draft (for Word documents) except it runs over web content and shows citations that have been found in the context of a webpage.

Why do I need to be online for LexisCheck to work?

LexisCheck uses the most up to date information available from LexisLibrary so it needs to connect to the internet to retrieve information. This ensures that the information that LexisCheck returns is as current as you would expect from LexisLibrary.

Will LexisLibrary be available on the shared computers in the library?

No. As the LexisCheck software is licensed to students on an individual basis, it should only be registered and installed on PCs owned by you.

Why is the LexisCheck User ID/Password not the same as the User ID/Password I use to access at my institution/university (‘Shibboleth’/’Athens’)? Why does my institution User ID/Password (‘Shibboleth’/’Athens’) not work on LexisCheck?

Although LexisCheck links through to your LexisLibrary subscription at your institution (alternatively called Shibboleth or Athens access), the two are based on separate agreements. Your institutional/university access is based on an agreement that LexisNexis has with that institution/university. The LexisCheck User ID/Password you have is based on a separate agreement between you and LexisNexis.

Why do the links from LexisCheck into LexisLibrary (case law, legislation, etc.) not work for me off-campus?

LexisCheck is designed to work with the password gateway used by the vast majority of universities and institutions in the UK (‘Shibboleth’/’Athens’). If your university/institution does not use Shibboleth or Athens, LexisCheck software will function as normal, however you will only be able to link directly into LexisLibrary from LexisCheck if you are on campus.

How can I be sure that the information in LexisCheck is up to date?

The information retrieved by LexisCheck is fed from LexisLibrary, which is continually updated with the latest cases, legislation, amendments and related materials. When new features are added to LexisCheck, you’ll be able to download upgrades to the software.

Where can I buy LexisCheck?

There’s no need to buy it! LexisCheck is free for the whole of the academic year 2010-2011 for all law students.

 

What do the symbols mean?

If you hover over a symbol with your mouse, an information box will appear and tell you what the symbol means. The LexisCheck Help button in the toolbar also explains them:

• On the toolbar, click the LexisCheck Help button ()
• Choose “Get Started with LexisCheck Draft” or “All About Lexis®Check Web BETA”
• Click “What are Categories and Statuses?”

What is hidden text? Why does my document ask me to save changes if I try to close it after running LexisCheck in Microsoft Word?

When LexisCheck searches for citations in your document, it inserts hidden text into the document to make the citation search faster the next time you run the search. If you run LexisCheck and then try to close the document, Word will ask you if you want to save the document even if you don’t think you have made any changes. If you do not want to save this hidden text, clicking the button labelled ‘Clear LexisCheck data from the document’ () will remove the hidden text.

Finding and using LexisCheck

Where is the LexisCheck toolbar in Word 2003? When I open Word 2003 I cannot see the LexisCheck toolbar.

When you have installed LexisCheck in Word 2003 it will appear in the Microsoft Word toolbar like this:



In Word 2003, if the LexisCheck buttons have not appeared on the toolbar, click on “View”, then in the options click on “Toolbars”. At the bottom of the list of Toolbar options you will see “LexisCheck Draft”. Click on that to make the LexisCheck toolbar visible.
Alternatively, click the right mouse button in the area next to the toolbars and a list of available Word toolbars will appear. Choose “LexisCheck Draft” from the list.

Where does LexisCheck appear in Word 2007?

In Word 2007, LexisCheck is in the Add-Ins bar at the top of the screen.

 

Where does LexisCheck appear in my internet browser?

LexisCheck only works with Internet Explorer.  LexisCheck is not compatible with Firefox, Safari or Chrome for example.

In Internet Explorer, if the LexisCheck buttons have not appeared on the toolbar, click on “View”, then in the options click on “Toolbar”. On the list of Toolbar options you will see “LexisCheck Draft”. Click on that to make the LexisCheck toolbar visible.

Where does LexisCheck appear in Adobe Reader?

LexisCheck works with Adobe Read 9 and 10.

Adobe Reader 9	Adobe Reader 10

What is LexisCheck Web?

Similar to LexisCheck Draft which runs over Word documents, LexisCheck Web runs over any web-based content. LexisCheck Web will recognise case and legislation citations and create links back to the full text in LexisLibrary as well as providing status indicators (traffic lights) and links to related cases and related commentary. LexisCheck Web helps ensure that people are aware of the risks of relying on web-based content when doing legal research.

What is LexisCheck for Adobe Reader Web?

Similar to LexisCheck Draft which runs over Word Documents, LexisCheck PDF runs over PDF Documents.
LexisCheck PDF will recognise case and legislation citations and create links back to the full text in LexisLibrary as well as providing status indicators (traffic lights) and links to related cases and related commentary.

How do I run LexisCheck?

The main way to run LexisCheck is to click on the green tick button

 

To launch LexisCheck over a Word, PDF Document or web page.

When I run LexisCheck over Word documents what should I expect to see?

LexisCheck will run over your document and find all the legal citations contained within that document and present the findings in a list with corresponding “traffic lights” signalling the validity of those citations. There will be a column indicating what ”You wrote” and a column “We think you mean…” indicating the best match offered by LexisCheck. LexisCheck also provides a wealth of information about those citations and seamless easy linking to further information held in LexisLibrary.

When I run LexisCheck over internet content/use LexisCheck Web what should I expect to see?

LexisCheck Web will run over any web page and find all the legal citations contained within that web page and present the findings in the context of the web page. Beside each citation it will insert a “traffic light” signalling the validity of those citations as well as a link to the corresponding case or legislation in LexisLibrary.

When I run LexisCheck over a PDF what should I expect to see?

LexisCheck PDF will run over your document and find all the legal citations contained within that document and present the findings in a list with corresponding "traffic lights" signalling the validity of those citations.
There will be a column indicating what "You wrote" and a column "We think you mean..." indicating the best match offered by LexisCheck. LexisCheck PDF also provides a wealth of information about those citations and seamless easy linking to further information held in LexisLibrary.

Why does the LexisCheck Feedback button ask me to install Outlook?

LexisCheck automatically tries to email any feedback via Microsoft Outlook. If you do not have Outlook it will ask you to install it. If you do not wish to install Outlook, simple email our Content Support team by clicking here and include the word ‘Feedback’ as the subject of your email.

How can I provide feedback on LexisCheck?

Please email feedback to our Content Support team by clicking here and include the word ‘Feedback’ as the subject of your email.

Error messages

I have got the error message “Unable to create LexisCheckWordHelper object” when I first try to use LexisCheck. What do I do?

If the error message shown below occurs and you have Microsoft Office 2003/Word 2003 you will need to install an Update for Office 2003 (KB907417) (available here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=1B0BFB35-C252-43CC-8A2A-6A64D6AC4670&displaylang=en).

 

 I get this error message when I try to open the Internet Explorer browser after installing the LexisCheck software. Why is this happening?

 

 

If the error message shown above occurs, then you have installed LexisCheck with Protected Mode switched “On” in Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating systems. To stop this message appearing when you open the Internet Explorer browser then you should switch “Off” Protected Mode.

 

How to turn off protected mode in Windows Vista and Windows 7?

In Internet Explorer click Tools > Internet Options, then go to the Security tab.  Uncheck the Protected Mode checkbox and click ‘OK’

 

 

You will see the mode set to “Off” in the bottom ‘status bar’ of your Internet Explorer browser.

 

ID and password

Why does LexisCheck ask me for a User ID and Password?

LexisCheck requires you to input your User ID and Password when you run the application. This is a new User ID/Password that will be emailed to you. If you do not wish to input your User ID and Password each time, simply click on ‘Remember my sign-in information’ as highlighted below.

How do I receive my User ID and Password?

Your User ID and Password will be emailed to your university/institution email address within a week of registering for the free trial. If after a week you have not received it, check that the email from LexisNexis has not been caught by your spam filters. If it has not, please contact the LexisCheck Technical Help Desk by clicking here. Please include your full contact details and we will respond as soon as possible.

What do I do if I have forgotten my User ID and/or Password?

If you have forgotten your User ID and/or Password, please check to see whether you have the original email that was sent from LexisNexis with your User ID and Password (this may be in your SPAM folder). If you cannot find that email please contact the LexisCheck Technical Help Desk by clicking here. Please include your full contact details and we will respond as soon as possible.

Technology/System requirements

What systems requirements do I need to run LexisCheck?

LexisCheck currently works with standard Windows PCs, specifically:
Minimum PC Requirements

Windows XP:
• Pentium/800Mhz or faster processor
• 256MB RAM or above
• NET Framework 3.5 SP1 or above (available here: http://www.microsoft.com/NET/)
• You must turn Protected Mode to “Off” when installing LexisCheck - see notes above

Windows Vista:
• 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor
• 512MB RAM or above
• NET Framework 3.5 SP1 or above (available here: http://www.microsoft.com/NET/)

• You must turn Protected Mode to “Off” when installing LexisCheck - see notes above

Windows 7:
• 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor
• 1GB RAM or above

LexisCheck Draft for Microsoft® Word
To install LexisCheck Draft you must have one of the following versions of Microsoft Word

• Word 2002 (Office XP)
• Word 2003
• Word 2007

• Word 2010

LexisCheck support for Microsoft Office/Word and Windows operating systems is detailed below. LexisCheck may work with other combinations, but will not be supported by LexisNexis.



* Please note that Microsoft Office 2003/Word 2003 users will need to have the Update for Office 2003 (KB907417) (available here)

 

LexisCheck Web for Internet Explorer
To install LexisCheck Web, you must have one of the following versions of Internet Explorer:

 

•Internet Explorer® 6.0
•Internet Explorer® 7.0
•Internet Explorer® 8.0

 

Please ensure Protected Mode is turned off in Internet Explorer when you download and install LexisCheck for Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating systems. Failure to do so will affect your Internet Explorer browser.

 

Note: LexisCheck is not compatible with the browsers Firefox, Safari or Chrome Support.

LexisCheck for Adobe Reader

To install LexisCheck, you must have one of the following versions of Adobe Reader:

•Adobe Reader 9
•Adobe Reader 10

What is .NET Framework 3.5 SP1?

.NET Framework 3.5 SP1 is preinstalled in Windows 7 PCs and already included in many Windows XP/Vista PCs. If your PC does not already have .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 it is available here for free: http://www.microsoft.com/NET/. For most computers, the .NET Framework will require you to restart your PC before it is installed.

The .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 install made me restart my computer. I cannot remember where I downloaded the software. Where do I find it?

Please contact lexischeck.support@lexisnexis.co.uk. Please include your full contact details and any User ID you may be using. It may take up to two workings days for you to receive a response.

Does LexisCheck support other operating systems such as Linux or Mac OS X?

No. It is not compatible with the operating systems Linux or Mac OS X.

Why do the LexisCheck buttons not work in Outlook 2003? How do I remove the LexisCheck toolbar from Outlook 2003?

At the moment LexisCheck does not support this functionality in Outlook 2003. If Word is your email editor, the LexisCheck toolbar will be visible. If you wish to remove the LexisCheck toolbar from Outlook 2003, click on “View”, then in the options click on “Toolbar”. At the bottom of the list of Toolbar options you will see “LexisCheck Draft”. Click on that to make the LexisCheck toolbar disappear.

Alternatively, click the right mouse button in the area next to the toolbars and a list of available Outlook toolbars will appear. Choose “LexisCheck Draft” from the list.



This may also remove the LexisCheck toolbar from Word 2003.

Why can I not send an email when I am running LexisCheck?

In Word 2003, if Microsoft Word is your email editor, you will not be able to send an email whilst LexisCheck is running over a document.

If I switch user, why does LexisCheck ask me if I want to install?

When you install LexisCheck, if you change user without restarting your PC it will ask you whether you wish to install the product. If you do not, simply click cancel.

Support

Who do I contact if I have issues with LexisCheck?

For Technical Support queries, please email us by clicking here or for other issues, contact the Customer Service Help Desk by clicking here Please include your full contact details and any ID you may be using. It may take up to 2 workings days for you to receive a response.

Writing Citations

Does LexisCheck support Acronyms?

Yes. LexisCheck supports over 3,400 acronyms for Acts, Orders, Regulations and Rules.

 

Does LexisCheck support common case names/shipping names ?
Yes. LexisCheck supports and will find over 2000 common case names and shipping names like The Wagon Mound, The Angelic and The Romalpa. We’re adding to this list so if you have a common case name or shipping name that has not been retrieved by LexisCheck  and you think it should be added then please email your suggestion to lexischeck.support@lexisnexis.co.uk.

When I type in “smith v jones”, “smith, jones”, “Smith and Jones” or “Smith & Jones” it won’t find a case I know exists.

LexisCheck is case-sensitive. You should use Title Case (initial capital letters) for cases and the names of legislation. See the citation guide on the right-hand side of this Support page for further information on clear citation style in LexisCheck.

I typed in “Companies Act, 1985” or “Companies Act” and got no results – what went wrong?

When you use a comma in a legislation citation – after the word Act and before the year, e.g. Companies Act, 1985 – LexisCheck ignores the whole citation. Remove the comma and LexisCheck should find the Act you are looking for. See the citation guide on the right-hand side of this Support page for further information on clear citation style in LexisCheck.

Why can’t I find an Act of Sederunt Scottish SI either by its title or by year/series number?

At present LexisCheck does not provide this functionality

Why can’t I find a citation for Order in Council SIs?

At present LexisCheck does not provide this functionality.

Why can I not find a Schedule?

Schedules are not found when there is only one Schedule in the enactment. Citations using the terms First Schedule, Second Schedule do not resolve. See the citation guide on the right-hand side of this Support page for further information on clear citation style in LexisCheck.

Why can’t I find this case --- v ---?

In an instance where LexisCheck recognises something is written as a case (with the “v” in between parties) but there is no/limited information about that case, then you will see a grey symbol. The grey symbol may also appear where a citation may look like a case but in reality it is not e.g. Arsenal v Tottenham (this is a football fixture not a case).

Why can’t I find a citation of an enactment that was repealed before 1998?

LexisCheck uses the same legislation database as LexisLibrary. This was introduced in 1998 and contains all record of repealed/enacted citations from that year onwards only.

Other

Is LexisCheck cheating?

No. It is a software tool that allows you to see the validity of cases and legislation. It retrieves information that you would be able to find if you spent time researching on LexisLibrary. It makes checking the validity of citations much quicker and easier within the context of your document or web page. LexisCheck is used by many legal professionals in their day-to-day work.