<s>
Westlaw	O
supports	O
natural	B-Language
language	I-Language
and	O
Boolean	O
searches	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1976	O
,	O
QL	O
Systems	O
licensed	O
the	O
QL/SEARCH	O
software	B-Application
to	O
West	O
Publishing	O
as	O
the	O
original	O
foundation	O
for	O
what	O
would	O
become	O
Westlaw	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
West	O
's	O
chief	O
competitor	O
in	O
the	O
legal	O
information	O
retrieval	O
market	O
is	O
LexisNexis	B-Library
.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
Ironically	O
,	O
Lawford	O
and	O
von	O
Briesen	O
sold	O
what	O
by	O
then	O
was	O
called	O
QuickLaw	O
to	O
LexisNexis	B-Library
in	O
2002	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
Westlaw	O
and	O
LexisNexis	B-Library
started	O
in	O
the	O
1970s	O
as	O
dial-up	O
services	O
with	O
dedicated	O
terminals	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
earliest	O
versions	O
used	O
acoustic	B-Device
couplers	I-Device
or	O
key	O
phones	O
;	O
then	O
smaller	O
terminals	O
with	O
internal	O
modems	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Around	O
1989	O
,	O
both	O
started	O
offering	O
programs	O
for	O
personal	O
computers	O
that	O
emulated	O
the	O
terminals	O
,	O
and	O
when	O
Internet	O
access	O
became	O
available	O
,	O
an	O
Internet	B-Protocol
address	I-Protocol
(	O
such	O
as	O
westlaw.com	O
)	O
became	O
an	O
alternative	O
that	O
could	O
be	O
selected	O
within	O
the	O
"	O
Communications	O
Setup	O
"	O
option	O
in	O
the	O
client	O
program	O
,	O
instead	O
of	O
a	O
dial-up	O
number	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
based	O
on	O
Borland	O
C++	B-Language
around	O
1997	O
,	O
and	O
then	O
changed	O
to	O
a	O
program	O
compiled	O
on	O
a	O
Microsoft	O
platform	O
that	O
incorporated	O
portions	O
of	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
program	O
to	O
incorporate	O
HTML	B-Language
;	O
prior	O
to	O
that	O
,	O
Westmate	O
had	O
"	O
jumps	O
"	O
indicated	O
by	O
triangles	O
instead	O
of	O
"	O
links.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Shortly	O
after	O
that	O
,	O
both	O
publishers	O
started	O
developing	O
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
interfaces	O
,	O
with	O
Westlaw	O
's	O
being	O
notable	O
for	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
"	O
web	O
dialogs	O
,	O
"	O
emulating	O
the	O
piling	O
of	O
open	O
books	O
on	O
a	O
table	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
new	O
search	O
algorithm	O
,	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
WestSearch	O
,	O
executes	O
a	O
federated	B-Operating_System
search	I-Operating_System
across	O
multiple	O
content	O
types	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
KeyCite	O
is	O
a	O
case	B-Library
citator	I-Library
used	O
in	O
United	O
States	O
legal	O
research	O
that	O
provides	O
a	O
list	O
of	O
all	O
the	O
authorities	O
citing	O
a	O
particular	O
case	O
,	O
statute	O
,	O
or	O
other	O
legal	O
authority	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
KeyCite	O
was	O
introduced	O
to	O
Westlaw	O
in	O
1997	O
and	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
service	O
to	O
seriously	O
challenge	O
Shepard	B-Library
's	I-Library
Citations	I-Library
,	O
on	O
which	O
legal	O
professionals	O
relied	O
for	O
generations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shepard	O
's	O
had	O
become	O
such	O
a	O
necessary	O
part	O
of	O
legal	O
research	O
,	O
that	O
citation	O
checking	O
is	O
still	O
informally	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
"	O
Shepardizing.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
WestCheck	O
is	O
software	B-Application
that	O
extracts	O
citations	O
from	O
a	O
word	O
processing	O
document	O
and	O
submits	O
them	O
to	O
KeyCite	O
or	O
to	O
Westlaw	O
for	O
retrieval	O
of	O
full	O
text	O
documents	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	B-Application
software	I-Application
consists	O
of	O
a	O
standalone	O
program	O
and	O
word	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
add-in	O
,	O
either	O
of	O
which	O
may	O
be	O
used	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
web	O
site	O
with	O
the	O
same	O
functionality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
WestCheck	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
available	O
online	O
at	O
citeadvisor.westlaw.com,	O
or	O
as	O
software	B-Application
for	O
a	O
word	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
mid-1980s	O
,	O
Westlaw	O
sued	O
LexisNexis	B-Library
over	O
copyright	O
infringement	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
LexisNexis	B-Library
's	O
"	O
star	O
pagination	O
"	O
system	O
,	O
a	O
feature	O
that	O
let	O
users	O
of	O
either	O
research	O
system	O
find	O
the	O
printed	O
page	O
of	O
a	O
case	O
without	O
looking	O
to	O
the	O
actual	O
book	O
,	O
was	O
found	O
to	O
infringe	O
West	O
's	O
copyrights	O
by	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
District	O
Court	O
for	O
the	O
District	O
of	O
Minnesota	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
Lexis	B-Library
 '	O
appeals	O
were	O
turned	O
down	O
by	O
the	O
Eighth	O
Circuit	O
Court	O
of	O
Appeals	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
entered	O
into	O
an	O
agreement	O
to	O
pay	O
West	O
$	O
50,000	O
per	O
year	O
to	O
license	O
West	O
's	O
pagination	O
and	O
text	O
corrections	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
No	O
other	O
publisher	O
was	O
offered	O
similar	O
terms	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
terms	O
of	O
the	O
agreement	O
were	O
kept	O
secret	O
until	O
they	O
came	O
out	O
during	O
discovery	O
in	O
the	O
Matthew	B-Library
Bender	I-Library
/	O
HyperLaw	O
v	O
.	O
West	O
lawsuit	O
.	O
</s>
