Ask a Research Question

Learn how to ask a research question with Vincent. This guide explains how to get a comprehensive, fully-cited AI legal memo for your Vincent AI legal research.

Summary

Learn how to Ask a Research Question with Vincent. This guide explains how to get a comprehensive, fully-cited AI legal memo for your Vincent legal research, complete with supporting authorities and a breakdown of exceptions and limitations.

Why This is Important

Asking a research question is one of Vincent's most powerful workflows. It goes beyond simple search to provide a structured, in-depth legal research memorandum, saving you hours of work. Vincent offers full transparency, allowing you to see exactly which sources it uses to arrive at an answer and verify the results for yourself.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Asking Your Question

To get started, select Ask a Research Question from the list of workflows or type your question directly into the box at the top of the page.

Select the Ask a Research Question workflow in Vincent.

  • Select Your Jurisdiction: Before you begin, use the jurisdiction selector below the question box to choose the specific jurisdiction(s) for your research.

Select the relevant jurisdiction.

  • Initiate the Search: When you are ready, press the blue arrow to start your query.

How Vincent Finds Your Answer: When you ask a question, Vincent initiates a comprehensive, multi-stage process. It uses vector search to find relevant text from cases, statutes, and secondary sources. It then performs a deep "up-the-tree" and "down-the-tree" citation analysis, reviewing cases that cite your sources and cases that are cited by your sources, ensuring a thorough and reliable result.

2. Understanding Your Results

Your answer will be displayed on the left, with a full list of the authorities Vincent cited on the right.

Example of a Question to Vincent for Legal Research.

The generated memo is structured into three key parts:

  • Short Response: A concise, one-paragraph answer to your question is placed right at the top.

Short Response.

  • Detailed Analysis: Vincent then shows its work by providing a detailed breakdown of the legislation, case law, and secondary materials it used to construct the answer.

Detailed Analysis

  • Exceptions and Limitations: Crucially, Vincent includes a section detailing any exceptions, limitations, or counterarguments related to your question, highlighting potential risks or alternative perspectives.

Exceptions and Limitations.

3. Interacting with Your Results

You have full control over the final output.

  • Review Authorities in Real-Time: As Vincent works, you can see the authorities it finds on the right-hand side. Each entry includes a link to the source, a summary, and a relevant excerpt, allowing you to trust but verify with ease.

Review Authorities in Real-Time.

  • Modify the Authority List: If you feel a source is not relevant, simply select Modify list, de-select the texts you wish to exclude, and click Apply. Vincent will regenerate the memo based on your new selection.

Modify the Authority List

  • Download Your Memo: Use the icons above the answer to download the final memo as a PDF or Word document, or to copy it to your clipboard.

Download-Your-Memo.gif

Best Practices & Pro Tips

  • Be Specific: The more specific your question, the more targeted your results will be. Include key facts and legal terms.

  • Use Your History: Your past queries are saved in your history panel. Clicking on a past query will show you the previous results without running a new search.

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