O’ Brien’s Encyclopedia of Forms on Westlaw Canada

When will O’Brien’s Encyclopedia of Forms (“O’Brien’s”) launch on the Westlaw Canada platform?
O’Brien’s will be launching on the Westlaw Canada platform starting June 24, 2020.

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Why is O’Brien’s Online moving to Westlaw Canada?
O’Brien’s Online is moving to Westlaw Canada to provide you with a more comprehensive legal research experience, by eliminating the need to access valuable forms and precedents on a separate platform. With this change, you will be able to apply the enhanced functionality and power of Westlaw Canada to O’Brien’s Online content. This includes the ability to search all forms and precedents and easily customize them to suit your needs.

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Will I be impacted by the launch of O’Brien’s on Westlaw Canada?
Yes. O’Brien’s on the current platform will be sunsetting early 2021. Access to the current online platform will not be available after December 31, 2020 and all current O’Brien’s Online customers will be impacted by this transition. The content will be available on Westlaw Canada, to be priced separately. An account representative will be contacting you prior to January 31, 2021.

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How are Existing O’Brien’s Print+Online customers impacted?
Any existing O’Brien’s Print+Online customers will maintain their access to the Online portion on the current platform (until the earlier of their transition to Westlaw Canada or January 31, 2021). Print + Online subscribers will continue to receive updated content as supplements are billed and issued. An account representative will be contacting you prior to January 31, 2021.

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How will I gain access to O’Brien’s if I don’t have a Westlaw Canada account?
If you are an O’Brien’s Online customer and you do not have a Westlaw Canada account, you will be sent a registration key with instructions to set up your OnePass username and password. Once your OnePass account is set up, you will be able to log in to Westlaw Canada and access the O’Brien’s content to which you subscribe. You will not have access to Westlaw Canada content that is outside of your subscription.

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How will I gain access to O’Brien’s if I already subscribe to Westlaw Canada?
Your sales rep will be in touch to review plans/offers for O’Brien’s on Westlaw Canada. You will gain access to O’Brien’s the same way you access other resources on Westlaw Canada. Once the product launches, we will work with your firm to ensure all existing users and any new users have been transitioned to O’Brien’s on Westlaw Canada.  We will provide you with advance notice and will work with you to ensure a smooth transition. Training on Westlaw Canada will be part of this process.

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Can I use my existing OnePass credentials to access O’Brien’s content on Westlaw Canada?
If you are currently a Westlaw Canada customer with a subscription to O’Brien’s Online, you will be able to access O’Brien’s content on Westlaw Canada using your existing OnePass username and password.

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What training will be provided?
We will work with you to ensure a smooth transition to O’Brien’s on Westlaw Canada. Training will be part of that process. Training materials including FAQs and instructional videos will be available for customers at our Customer Learning Centre. Depending on the needs of your account, you may be contacted directly by a Thomson Reuters trainer to arrange in-person training sessions and/or webinars.  Please contact customerlearning.legaltaxcanada@thomsonreuters.com for any additional questions related to training.

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Will the change to Westlaw Canada impact my pricing and subscriptions?
If you are an O’Brien’s Online or Print+Online customer, the move from the current platform to Westlaw Canada may impact your pricing.  Your sales rep will be contacting you individually to communicate any changes to your account.

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How will the experience of O’Brien’s Online differ on the Westlaw Canada platform?
You will have access to all the same content and subscriptions that are available to you now on the current online platform.  In addition, you will have the benefit of: 1) searching and browsing O’Brien’s alongside all other content to which you subscribe; and 2) applying the Westlaw Canada search experience and functionality to O’Brien’s content.

You will be able to access O’Brien’s via a link to “O’Brien’s Encyclopedia of Forms” located on the Westlaw Canada homepage, under the “Forms and Precedents” heading.  O’Brien’s content will also appear under “My Subscriptions”.

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Will there be changes to O’Brien’s online content?
There will be a new numbering system for the forms, precedents, commentary and checklists, which has been designed to accommodate new additions and to add consistency in numbering across the divisions. You will also be able to customize content more easily, using a feature called Easy Edit. There will be some stylistic changes, but the same great print content will be available online.

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What is “Easy Edit” and how does it differ from editing functionality on the current platform?
The Easy Edit feature enables you to download a form without any headers or editorial content so that you can work on the form in your own drafting application and simply fill in the blanks. You will be able to access the Easy Edit version of a form by clicking the Easy Edit icon, clearly displayed on the right side of the document.

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Will there be cost recovery/reporting service functionality available for O’Brien’s on Westlaw Canada? How does this compare with the current platform?
There will be cost recovery/reporting service functionality for O’Brien’s content available in Reporting Systems Version 2 (RSV 2).  O’Brien’s content will have a suggested chargeback value, similar to other Westlaw Canada content.  This feature is not available on the current platform.

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Will out of plan O’Brien’s content be available for PPV purchases?
At launch, O’Brien’s content on Westlaw Canada will not be available on a PPV basis.

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