SynthCounsel
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Comparison

LexisNexis is research for law firms with research budgets. SynthCounsel is court preparation for people without them.

Feature
LexisNexis
SynthCounsel
Monthly cost
LexisNexis targets enterprise law firms ($150+/mo). SynthCounsel is built for the 30M pro se litigants LN ignores: $149 per case, one time. Free unlimited Q&A chat for everyone.
$100–$500+
$149/case or $39/mo
Access for pro se litigants
LexisNexis does not sell to individuals. SynthCounsel is built for pro se litigants, solo attorneys, and paralegals.
no
yes
Case law search
Both index opinions. LexisNexis has deeper historical coverage; SynthCounsel uses CourtListener data, free to use and sufficient for most pro se research.
yes
yes
Citator (Shepard's)
LexisNexis has the "Shepard's Signal" citator. SynthCounsel does not — citators matter for appellate brief writing where treatment history is dispositive. For trial-level filings (motions, answers, discovery) most pro se work doesn't need one. CourtListener's free citation tools cover the gap when you do.
yes
no
Document generation
LexisNexis is research-only. SynthCounsel generates court-formatted motions, answers, and discovery.
no
yes
Deadline calculator
LexisNexis does not compute procedural deadlines. SynthCounsel does, per state rules, with safety buffers.
no
yes
Explain-the-why tracing
Both surface the reasoning behind results. SynthCounsel shows the full derivation for every computed deadline: event + rule + service adjustment + buffer.
yes
yes
AI assistant
Both offer AI. Counsel is rule-constrained: it must call the rules engine before asserting any procedural fact. No hallucinated deadlines.
Protégé
Counsel
Privacy
LexisNexis logs every search for enterprise customers. SynthCounsel collects zero telemetry.
enterprise logging
zero telemetry
Pick the right tool

Use LexisNexis when…
  • 01You’re a practicing attorney and your firm pays for it
  • 02You need Shepardizing for appellate briefs
  • 03You need pre-1950 case history
Use SynthCounsel when…
  • 01You can’t afford $100/month just to look up a rule
  • 02You need to generate the actual filing, not just research it
  • 03You need deadlines computed, not just rules quoted
  • 04You want AI that cites its sources, not makes them up

Built for the 30 million Americans who end up in court every year and can't afford $6,000 a year just to read a statute.