For example, if you want to access prior statutes for a particular state (e.g., California), there are three different routes to get there from the main Westlaw Edge page: When you browse, note that there are several different ways to get to the same content.
More ways to access historical statutes on Westlaw EdgeĪnother way you can access historical statutes is to browse to the content. Just click on the version you are interested in to see how that statute appeared on a specific date. When prior versions are available, they are arranged by effective date in reverse chronological order. This will pull up a list of the versions available on Westlaw Edge. The easiest way to access a historical version of a statute is to first go to the current version, and then select “Versions” from the “History” tab. Historical versions are essentially snapshots of particular statutes during a specific time period. While using Statutes Compare is by far the easiest way to see how a statute has changed over time, it is important to note that historical versions of statutes are still available for many jurisdictions on Westlaw Edge. You can still get historical versions of statutes on Westlaw Edge, too This means you can quickly see how statute has changed over time without having to look through all of the old statutory versions and manually comparing them. This will create a single document in which the historical changes - both additions and deletions - for a specific statute are called out. Once you are viewing a statute in Westlaw Edge, simply click on the “Compare Versions” button on the right-hand side. It’s extremely easy to use Statutes Compare. In fact, attorneys can now use Statutes Compare in Westlaw Edge to instantly compare different versions of a statute, highlighting how it has changed over time. And if the amendments aren’t obvious - or if the statute is quite large - you can spend hours painstakingly trying to figure out the history of a statute.įortunately, however, technology has made this slow, arduous process a thing of the past. If you’ve ever tried to manually understand how a statute has changed, you know quite well how complicated it can be wading through years of session laws and numerous statutory amendments. Likewise, the proper application and understanding of legislative intent behind a current law often requires examining older versions of that law as well as its evolution over time. Legal research often requires attorneys to find out how specific laws have changed over time, particularly in situations in which lawyers need to view a version of a statute that was in effect on the date a legal matter actually arose. You don't need to waste time wading through old law books