LexisNexis to revamp Butterworths service. Rosetta project gets final launch, as enhanced interface offers greater appeal to large legal firms. Eira Hayward reports.(LexisNexis Group, Butterworth Legal Publishers)

LexisNexis is gearing up for the launch of a revamped version of its LN Butterworths online legal service on 6 July. The new release, code-named Rosetta, will make the product cleaner and clearer, "with less visual noise", according to the company.

The new interface will contain a host of additional features to increase the product's appeal to large law firms, and will be accompanied by a [pounds sterling]1m investment in customer service.

Screen design has been tidied up after usability studies and feedback from users, to make navigation easier. LN's UK product development leader, Karen Waldron, said: "We used the first release to show the core functions of the product, but there was a lot of visual noise, in one place on one screen, and we recognised that it needed to be less cluttered and a lot clearer."

Chief among the new features is the addition of more content. At present, the UK content consists of cases, legislation and some commentary from the Butterworths range of legal handbooks and textbooks. From July it will also contain tax material, and shortly thereafter news and business information from the upcoming LexisNexis Professional news aggregation service.

Bill Marshall, electronic publishing systems director, said: "A lawyer who might be used to searching across case law will now be able to search across companies in a particular market." The company also plans to add content from journals as well as forms and precedents. "From the time we launch in July we'll be adding to the content and functionality very regularly," added Marshall.

Waldron told IWR that new features will include an email alert service and a number of specialist practice area pages - for employment, property, family and so on. These will also contain ...