Summer Resources Guide: Database Use Over the Summer

The Law Library held five mini training sessions in Summer 2025 on practice resources that are available to Villanova Law students, but that you may not have heard of or have not had a chance to use. Sessions were recorded (see links below) and each lasts approximately 15-20 minutes.

• Tuesday, June 10th Secondary Sources with Prof. Robert Hegadorn (RECORDING)
  Secondary sources, created by legal scholars and practitioners, explain how the law actually works and is applied in various fact-situations.  This Session will discuss various secondary sources provided to legal researchers  in the major commercial databases and those freely available online.

• Tuesday, July 8: AI Tools in Westlaw with Prof. Jason Happ (RECORDING)
  Westlaw has been busy creating new AI-powered tools this year. Come join me while I walk you through the benefits (and drawbacks) of AI-Assisted Research, Claims Explorer, AI Jurisdictional Surveys, and Quick Check, all in 15 minutes!

• Thursday, July 10: Regulatory and Litigation Trackers with Prof. Emma Kearney (RECORDING)
  Lexis, Westlaw and Bloomberg all have tools that you can use to track updates and changes to regulations and litigation. Learn where they are on these databases and how to set up alerts for important laws in your field or connected to a specific matter so you can stay up to date on the binding law. 

• Tuesday July 29: Contract Analysis & Drafting Tools with Prof. Lori Corso (RECORDING)
  We'll take a quick look at Bloomberg Law's Draft Analyzer tool for reviewing contracts, discover tools to assist with document drafting, and highlight practice tools that make drafting and countering contracts and other transactional documents much more efficient. 

These sessions are provided for educational purposes only. Resources shown are available to Villanova Law students and may not be accessible to viewers who are not members of the Villanova Law School community. VLS students should see the Database Use Over the Summer tab for potential restrictions on use of Westlaw, Lexis, or Bloomberg Law for summer work. 

NOTE: Some employer policies require the use of firm accounts.

• Bloomberg: Automatic, unlimited access for schoolwork, private study or employment during the summer
   
• Lexis+: Unlimited, unrestricted (for work, fun, or school) access to Lexis+ all summer on your current Lexis ID
   
• Westlaw: Westlaw and Practical Law may be used for non-commercial research but can’t be used in situations where you are billing a client. Examples of permissible uses for your academic password include the following: Summer coursework, Research assistant assignments, Law Review or Journal research, Moot Court research, Non-Profit work, Clinical work, unpaid Externship for course credit

Your employer may be using an older version of Westlaw that differs somewhat from the Westlaw Precision platform we use here in law school. See these guides for Summer Associates working with Westlaw Edge and Westlaw Classic for assistance.

All other law databases are accessible remotely over the summer without restriction. See the Law Databases page for a full list that includes: 

Falvey Library offers access to many different interdisciplinary resources covering medical, business, news resources, social science materials and many more. 

View their Subject Guides to locate resources by topic like:

Can also browse the A-Z list or find a resource by name by searching their catalog.