The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales (ICLR) has launched its ICLR.4 version, which introduces a new NLP-driven search function called Case Genie that can find related court cases, as well as other improvements to provide a more efficient and user-friendly platform.
With the launch of ICLR.4, the group – which is formed as a charity – continues in ‘its mission to provide the legal profession with access to preeminent law reports in England and Wales’ they said.
In terms of Case Genie, the NLP-driven search tool: ‘This enables users to identify otherwise seamlessly unconnected and novel cases that could add value to their legal thinking.
‘Case Genie also runs paragraph similarity checks, whereby the system matches paragraphs selected by the user with content in other cases that discuss similar legislation or concepts. Case Genie operates on a secure online system, with instant encryption of any uploaded content and immediate deletion of data once the session ends.’
This and other new features on ICLR.4 were created with bespoke processes developed by 67 Bricks, following initial research conducted by the ICLR’s research lab, ICLR&D.
Kevin Laws, CEO at the ICLR, said: ‘Once again the product development team at ICLR have utilized our core strengths and expertise to create a fantastic product. We are confident that Case Genie will become a valuable research tool to complement traditional research methods.’
Paul Magrath, head of product development and online content at the ICLR, added: ‘ICLR.4 signifies a major upgrade to our online delivery of content for the benefit of our valued subscribers. The ICLR is no longer just delivering content, but legal data services more generally. We are still on our digital journey, and we continue to invest in research and development, so watch this space.’
And, Sir Alastair Norris, former High Court judge of the Chancery Division and a member of the ICLR, concluded: ‘For my generation, the meticulously compiled Law Reports Consolidated Index was an essential tool in practice and a constant aid on the bench. Now a digital version linked with the AI embedded in Case Genie promises to take effective research to another level for this generation. As I have watched the development of ICLR.4 it has been encouraging to see how, through the engagement of the law reporters, the skills of the compiler are still deployed.’