Subscribers to Lexis+. the premium legal research platform that LexisNexis launched last year, will now have access to breaking legal news headlines across 76 practice areas with the introduction today of the Legal News Hub.

The Legal News Hub provides subscribers with access to headlines and summaries of current news stories from the LexisNexis-owned Law360 and Law360 Pulse news services. Users can view general legal news stories or stories specific to any of the included practice areas or legal topics.

Stories can also be viewed by practice area.

However, in order to read the full story, a user will also need a subscription to Law360 or Law360 Pulse, and a subscription to only one or the other allows full-text access only to stories from that source.

(Law360 Pulse is the service Law360 launched in January that combines traditional journalism with data and analytics to cover the business of law and the legal industry in general.)

The one exception is content related to access to justice, which Law360 provides free to anyone, both directly through the Law360 site and to Lexis+ subscribers through the Legal News Hub.

Subscribers of Law360 or Law360 Pulse can read stories within Lexis+ or click to open the source story.

But for Law360 and Law360 Pulse subscribers, the Legal News Hub provides the advantage of being able to view stories from directly within the Lexis+ platform.

For those who do not subscribe to either news service, the Legal News Hub at least provides an at-a-glance overview of breaking legal news and analysis.

Users can search news stories and, with one click, expand the search to legal sources.

Last week, I was given a preview of the Legal News Hub by Rachel Travers, vice president and general manager of Law360; Melissa Groman, senior director of the news group product team; and James Oakes, product manager.

The Legal News Hub can be found within the Lexis+ Experience Dock, as its called, and is composed of four sections:

  • Top stories. A continuously updated and editorially curated list of the 20 most recent legal news stories. Stories appear here simultaneously with their posting to Law360 or Law360 Pulse.
  • Trending stories. The stories trending as most popular on Law360 are highlighted, giving users insight into what their industry peers consider important.
  • Practice areas. The 20 most recent stories from the 76 practice areas and legal topics covered by Law360 and Law360 Pulse.
  • Search. Users can search news stories from Law360 and Law360 Pulse from within Legal News Hub and, with one click, transition the same query to searching news and legal sources on Lexis+. The search spans the full Law360 archive, but will display only the most recent 20 stories that match the query.

Stories span 76 practice areas and legal topics.

Groman said that the Legal News Hub is a current awareness tool that is designed to look and feel like a news site, not a legal research tool.

LexisNexis plans to continue to build out the Legal News Hub, and among its plans are to add additional news sources and to enable users to personalize their news feeds.

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.