Asking a Research Question

This page walks you through how to interact with Alexi’s chat and conversational features. Alexi is a conversational AI platform, which means you can use natural language to ask your questions.

Here’s a short video walking you through some best practices when asking research questions within Alexi.

To ask a question:

1. Navigate to the chat bar at the bottom of your screen.

2. Type your question clearly in full sentences, and submit your question by clicking on the purple arrow button or hit Enter.

3. Alexi will generate an answer. Depending on the complexity of your question, this can take anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. While waiting for the answer to generate, you don’t need to remain on the same page. You may navigate away from the matter, or start a new matter and multitask while waiting for Alexi’s answer to generate.

Types of Research Queries

Alexi has two main ways of answering questions (outside of document-based workflows):

• General Research
• Legal Research

Each is optimized for different needs: speed vs. depth.

1. General Research

What it is

General Research answers use public internet sources, not case law or statutes.

Alexi will draw on things like:

• Legal blogs and practice guides
• Commentary and explainers
• General articles

When to use it

Use General Research when you need quick, high-level understanding of a concept, doctrine, or general question.

Examples:

• “What does estoppel mean?”
• “What does the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution say?”

What to expect

• Fastest response type (usually seconds)
• Conversational tone, suitable for quick learning and scoping

2. Legal Research

What it is

Legal Research uses Alexi’s case law research workflow and proprietary database of legal research sources.

When to use it

Use Legal Research when you need:

• Authority-backed answers
• Depth and precision suitable for practice
• Case examples, factors, and legal tests

Examples:

• “Does extensive access to confidential information prevent a court from striking down a non-compete as overbroad for a senior sales role?”
• “Provide examples of cases where liquidated damages clauses in B2B supply contracts were upheld against penalty challenges, and identify the key factors courts relied on.”

What to expect

• Slower than General Research, but goes deeper.
• Structured, practice-ready analysis with citations and case discussion.

Overriding Alexi’s Defaults

Alexi will usually decide automatically whether to use General or Legal Research.

If you want to force a Legal Research workflow, include words like:

• “legal research”
• “caselaw”
• “case law analysis”

Example:

“Using recent caselaw, analyze whether…”

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