Robert Ambrogi Blog
At LegalTech in New York this week, Thomson Reuters will be showing a new addition to WestlawNext — the PeopleMap public records service. Although PeopleMap, itself, is not new, its integration into WestlawNext is new. and with that integration comes new visualization tools that now enable users to map out relationships among people, assets and businesses.
Now when you search a person or business on WestlawNext, you get case law and public records results, all within the same search results. When you select PeopleMap results, you can choose to display them in graphical link charts. The charts visually map out the connections among people, businesses and documents
In addition, you can map out the connections and relationships among people and businesses. It tells you not only that they are connected but how — husband and wife, perhaps, or co-defendants in a lawsuits. The person you search is at the center of the display, but you can click on any other connection to recenter the map on that person or business. In theory, you could almost infinitely follow the connections from one person to the next.
The new PeopleMap will also employ address mapping, using Google Maps. Once you find the person or business you’re interested in, you can switch over to Google Maps from directly within WestlawNext. There, you can see the address location and can even use Google Streetview, if available, to get a view of the address. This can help you see the kind of home someone lives in or the neighborhood in which a business is located.
There are any number of ways to filter results, so if you are searching for someone with a common name, you can use location, age or other filters to zero in on the one you want.
The new PeopleMap officially launches on Feb. 4.