Bloomberg is a well-known name in the business and financial sectors. In the past few years it has attempted to become more of a player in the legal sector as well. In fact, Bloomberg has its sights on the big boys of legal research – LexisNexis and Westlaw. Time will tell if Bloomberg Law can become a viable third competitor in the high-end legal research world, but Bloomberg is certainly doing its part.
Bloomberg Law offers the traditional primary legal authority that Lexis and Westlaw do, along with its own citator. While Bloomberg Law does not have the legal treatises offered by the other two, it has recently acquired BNA for nearly $1 billion to beef up its secondary source material. Bloomberg Law also offers federal trial court documents that otherwise would have to be paid for on PACER, as well as much of its business and financial information.
The Law Library has been keeping an eye on Bloomberg Law for a few years and is now pleased to be working with Bloomberg to offer our students access to Bloomberg Law. Students will shortly be receiving an email from Bloomberg with a personal username and password to access Bloomberg Law. A big benefit for students is that they can use Bloomberg Law for any type of research during the summer, no matter where they are working. 3Ls will also have access to Bloomberg Law until the December after they graduate.