About the Pilot Program:
The San Diego Law Library is participating in the Westlaw Patron Access Remote Pilot program with Thomson Reuters to allow library pro se patrons (non-attorneys) remote access to Westlaw, a premier legal research database. The library has only two (2) Westlaw seats, which allows for two concurrent research sessions. Once the maximum number of concurrent sessions has been reached, additional users trying to access Patron Access Remote will see a notification indicating that they cannot obtain access at this time and to try again later. Please be patient and try again as others may be using the database.
Instructions:
For access to the database, click on the Westlaw Patron Access Remote link below. It is required to complete a OnePass registration with Thomson Reuters/Westlaw and to validate your email address before accessing the database. Check your email (including SPAM/JUNK folder) for a OnePass Verification message from west.onepass@thomsonreuters.com. Note that you should have access to your email and cell phone available for setting up two factor authentication.
Note: If you have previously signed up with Westlaw or for a OnePass, the system may not recognize you as a new user. Use an email address that you have not used with Westlaw/OnePass. If you accessed Westlaw in 2020-2021 via our special Covid access program, you may need to use a different email address.
To access Westlaw Patron Access Remote in the future, patrons who previously registered can click on the Westlaw Patron Access Remote link via the library website and enter the OnePass username and password previously created. You must enter the database via the link on our website. If you go directly to Westlaw to log in, it will not let you log in.
Limitations on Usage: All Westlaw content is limited by Copyright laws. In addition, there is a download/email limit of 20 documents per session. There is also a total daily download limit of 150 for both seats combined. Once the session or daily download limit is reached, users will be blocked from downloading/emailing content. At that point, the only option will be to print. Also, we only have two seats/licenses, so the database may block access until a seat becomes available.
Note: the content in this special remote pilot program is different from the Westlaw content at our Downtown & Partnership locations. In general, the pilot program contains all primary State and Federal law, but our on-site Westlaw contains more secondary sources.
Sign Off Instructions: To end the research session, it is important click Sign Off. This will ensure that the seat becomes available immediately for the next patron. If the patron closes the Internet browser window rather than clicking Sign Off, it will take 10 to 15 minutes for this seat to reset and become available for the next patron.