Sweet and Maxwell launches first online-only encyclopedia of UK law
Sweet and Maxwell, a Thomson Reuters business and a leading provider of legal solutions, today announced the launch of the first online-only encyclopedia that aims to cover the entire law of the United Kingdom. Westlaw UK Insight is specifically designed to offer timely guidance on the law and to promote greater collaboration through its integration with social media platforms.
Westlaw UK Insight is a dynamic, web-based encyclopedia that features interpretation and analysis of the law written by experts. Designed to be easy and simple to use, the encyclopedia features an intuitive, topic-based index that allows users to efficiently navigate from broad overviews of a topic down to more detailed statements and research materials, enabling them to get up to speed on a point of law quickly, and then move on to more high-value work.
The encyclopedia includes a host of new articles written by up to 100 experts, including leading solicitors, barristers and academics, offering users insight from some of the smartest minds in the legal profession. It covers a vast range of subjects from commercial law to contaminated land and sports law, contracts of employment, to the laws governing internet trolling, and more.
Unlike other legal encyclopedias, Westlaw UK Insight is not constrained by print schedules, so content is updated in immediate response to changes in the law, resulting in a timelier source of guidance on UK law.
Connect through Twitter and LinkedIn
Westlaw UK Insight is built specifically for online use and comes with the added benefit of integrating with social media platforms, in particular Twitter and LinkedIn. This key functionality enables users to more readily share content and articles from the encyclopaedia, and to connect with their virtual networks on a more real-time basis about changes to the law.
Users can also take advantage of features that allow for an added degree of personalisation. With Westlaw UK Insight, users have the ability to watch topics and articles of particular interest, with watched topics appearing as bookmarks on the Insight home page, which will change in appearance when the topic has been updated. Email alerts can then be created to track these topics and articles, and updates are received as they happen.
Westlaw UK Insight is an evolving and growing initiative and at initial launch will focus mostly on UK-wide, or English law. Content for other jurisdictions and topics will be added throughout 2013, with the aim of making Westlaw UK Insight a comprehensive statement of the law in the United Kingdom, covering England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
“I’m delighted to see one of our most ambitious initiatives get off to such a strong start,” said Teri Hawksworth, managing director, Thomson Reuters Sweet & Maxwell. “Westlaw UK Insight is a new breed of legal encyclopedia, designed around the way today’s lawyers want to work. The result is not only a powerful resource, but succinct, up-to-date expert guidance on the law that enables lawyers to find solutions to their clients’ issues quickly.”
Westlaw UK Insight is edited by Daniel Greenberg, barrister and parliamentary counsel for more than 20 years in UK government service, and now in the parliamentary team at Berwin, Leighton Paisner LLP.
“Sweet and Maxwell has brought together a leading team of contributors for this exciting new online encyclopedia,” said Daniel Greenberg, general editor of Westlaw UK Insight and Annotated Statutes. “Westlaw UK Insight includes hundreds of articles, each of which gives a brief overview of a subject, links to the underlying core materials for further research, and provides analyses of particular areas of complexity or fluidity. I look forward to growing the list of contributors and to making it one of the most interactive resources covering the whole of the law of the United Kingdom.”
Westlaw UK Insight is part of the core Westlaw UK solution from Sweet & Maxwell. It is designed to appeal to all legal professionals across the industry and is available to existing subscribers of Westlaw UK.
To learn more about Westlaw UK Insight, please visit: http://www.westlaw.co.uk/insight/.
