Getting Started with Legal Research
This guide walks you through asking your first research question from start to finish — exactly what to click, what to select, and what happens at each step. The whole flow is shown in the looping demo below; the steps beneath it break it down.
- A Judicio account with an active subscription or free trial
- A legal question you want to explore (and, optionally, the documents it concerns)
- Enough credits for the run — your balance is shown in the top bar. See Credits Explained.
Open Research
Click Research in the left sidebar. You land on the Research home: a prompt that reads "What would you like to research today?", the three ways to start (Ask Judicio, Smart Suggestions, Templates), and the composer at the bottom — "Ask anything or select a file to analyse."
Research works with or without documents, so you can ask a question straight away — but attaching the files for your matter makes answers far more relevant.
Select your documents
Open the Files panel (the Files button in the chip row) and tick the documents you want answers grounded in. Each selected file appears as a chip, and the Files chip updates to read "Files (4)" so you can confirm your selection at a glance.
Judicio reasons over the facts in the documents you attach. Select all the files for the matter — the agreement, its amendments, the statement of work — so the answer reflects the whole picture, not one clause.
Ask your question in plain English
On the Ask Judicio tab, type your question the way you'd put it to a colleague — for example:
Is the 90-day non-renewal notice in our MSA enforceable, and what damages follow if Northwind misses the 30 June Milestone 1 deadline?
You can also dictate it with the microphone button. When you're ready, click the arrow button to send.
Prefer not to type? Switch tabs:
- Smart Suggestions — Judicio proposes useful questions from your selected files; click one to use it.
- Templates — browse pre-built research templates (plus your saved and shared ones) and pick one.
Set tone, language, length, and databases
Jurisdiction for the run is the top-bar jurisdiction switcher, not a chip on the composer.
The Settings chip under the composer shows tone, language, and response length. Open it to change those values. When India caselaw applies, the same Settings menu holds the repositories picker: four scope presets (Everything, Courts only, Tribunals only, Statute and rules) sit above the High Courts and other legal databases you can tick.
Deep Mode is a separate toggle on the composer for a thorough, multi-angle pass.
Judicio searches your sources
When you send the question, a live progress bar shows the research running — "Researching across your documents and trusted sources… searching Indian Kanoon, statutes, and the web, cross-checking 4 documents."
You can navigate away while it runs; Judicio keeps the session in your history and you can come back to it.
Read your cited answer
When research finishes you get a structured answer with your question above it. Each claim carries a numbered, blue citation chip — click it to open the source case, statute, or document page behind it. You can copy the answer, and Judicio offers suggested follow-ups below it.
Judicio's citations are accurate, but always confirm them against the original source before relying on them in filings or advice — a click opens the source behind each one. See Understanding Results.
Ask a follow-up
Your research session is a conversation. Use a suggested follow-up chip, or type your own in the composer to:
- go deeper on a specific case or holding,
- narrow the scope ("Focus only on decisions from the last 5 years"),
- explore a related issue ("What about the damages standard in these cases?").
Judicio keeps the context of the whole session, so each follow-up builds on what came before.
Turn findings into a draft
When you're satisfied with the research, toggle Drafting on and ask Judicio to turn the findings into a document — for example a non-renewal notice or a short memo. The draft carries the same citations through, so it stays verifiable. See Working with Drafts.
Export — PDF, Word, or an evidence pack
Click Export and choose a format — PDF, Word, or an evidence pack of every cited source — with Include citations on so each claim stays traceable. The evidence pack bundles the sources behind the answer so you can hand the whole trail to a colleague or the court.
Next steps
- Composing Queries — advanced techniques for writing effective questions.
- Understanding Results — how to read and verify a cited answer.
- Working with Drafts — turn findings into memos, briefs, and analysis.
- Jurisdictions — browse the 100+ supported jurisdictions.