Comparison
Lexis+ AI vs Mi Assist Legal -- Which is right for your firm?
Lexis+ AI charges ~$125/mo per attorney add-on to LexisNexis and runs on Cloud (LexisNexis). Mi Assist Legal runs on your own hardware -- one flat fee, no recurring seats, no data leaving your office.
TL;DR
The five-row answer.
| Dimension | Mi Assist Legal | Lexis+ AI |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment | On-premise, your hardware | Cloud (LexisNexis) |
| Price model | One-time deployment fee | ~$125/mo per attorney add-on to LexisNexis |
| Data location | Your office network, always | LexisNexis cloud infrastructure |
| Best for firm size | 5-30 attorneys | Firms already on LexisNexis subscriptions |
| Offline capable | Yes -- fully offline | No -- internet required |
Deployment Model
Cloud vs on-premise. What it actually means.
Lexis+ AI is an AI layer built on top of the LexisNexis platform. It allows attorneys to query LexisNexis's database of case law, statutes, and secondary sources using natural language. It's a cloud service that extends an existing LexisNexis subscription, not a replacement for it.
The key distinction is what Lexis+ AI actually searches: it searches LexisNexis's published legal database, not your firm's internal documents. When an attorney asks Lexis+ AI a question, the system pulls from court opinions, statutes, and legal periodicals in the LexisNexis database. It does not search your uploaded case files, client correspondence, medical records, or internal work product.
Mi Assist Legal solves a different problem. It searches the documents your firm has collected -- the case files, depositions, medical records, contracts, and internal memos that live on your server but cannot be searched quickly. These are not in any public legal database. They require a system that can ingest your documents, index them privately, and answer questions about them with source citations. If your bottleneck is internal document review rather than case law research, Lexis+ AI does not address it.
Pricing at Scale
10-attorney firm. 5-year total cost.
Per-seat pricing compounds every year. Mi Assist Legal is a one-time deployment -- the math becomes obvious over time.
| Period | Mi Assist Legal | Lexis+ AI |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 (10 attorneys) | $6,000 setup | $15,000 (add-on estimate) |
| Year 2 | $0 (no per-seat) | $15,000 |
| Year 3 | $0 | $15,000 |
| Year 4 | $0 | $15,000 |
| Year 5 | $0 | $15,000 |
| 5-Year Total | ~$6,000 | ~$75,000 |
Lexis+ AI is priced as an add-on to existing LexisNexis subscriptions. Estimated at approximately $125/attorney/month based on reported pricing tiers; actual pricing depends on your existing LexisNexis contract. These figures exclude base LexisNexis subscription costs.
Feature Comparison
Honest feature breakdown.
| Feature | Mi Assist Legal | Lexis+ AI |
|---|---|---|
| Searches your case files | Yes, your uploaded documents | No, LexisNexis database only |
| Searches case law | Only uploaded case law docs | Full LexisNexis database |
| Data location | On-premise, your network | LexisNexis cloud servers |
| Pricing model | One-time deployment fee | Per-seat monthly add-on |
| Offline capable | Yes, fully | No, cloud-dependent |
| Source citations | Yes, document + page number | Yes, database citations |
| ABA 1.6 by architecture | Yes, no data leaves office | Vendor policy dependent |
| Requires existing subscription | No | Yes, requires LexisNexis base |
Decision Guide
The honest answer.
Choose Lexis+ AI if:
- --Your primary AI need is natural language case law research in the LexisNexis database.
- --You already pay for a LexisNexis subscription and want AI layered on top at incremental cost.
- --Your research workflow centers on statutes, regulations, and secondary legal sources.
- --You need Shepardizing and citation validation integrated into your AI queries.
Choose Mi Assist Legal if:
- Your bottleneck is searching internal case files, not published case law databases.
- You need document queries to stay on your network and never reach a third-party server.
- You want a single flat-fee deployment rather than adding another per-seat line item.
- Your firm does not subscribe to LexisNexis or wants an AI that is database-agnostic.
FAQ
Common questions.
Does Lexis+ AI search my firm's uploaded documents?
No. Lexis+ AI is designed to search the LexisNexis published database of case law, statutes, and secondary sources. It does not ingest or search your firm's internal case files, client correspondence, deposition transcripts, or medical records. For internal document search, you need a different tool.
Can I use Mi Assist Legal and Lexis+ AI at the same time?
Yes. They solve different problems. Lexis+ AI helps attorneys research published legal databases with natural language queries. Mi Assist Legal helps attorneys search their own case files and internal documents. Many firms would benefit from both: Lexis+ AI for case law research and Mi Assist Legal for case file review.
Does Mi Assist Legal integrate with LexisNexis?
Mi Assist Legal does not require a LexisNexis subscription and does not connect to the LexisNexis database. It indexes documents you upload directly: PDFs, DOCX files, email exports, and other document formats. If you export case law opinions from LexisNexis as PDF files and upload them, Mi Assist Legal can search those documents along with your other case materials.
What happens to Lexis+ AI queries under ABA Rule 1.6?
When you submit a query to Lexis+ AI that includes excerpts from client files or case facts, those excerpts travel to LexisNexis servers for processing. LexisNexis has data handling policies and enterprise agreements, but the data leaves your physical control during processing. Bar associations have issued ethics opinions recommending attorneys review vendor data handling before using cloud AI for client matter work.
How is Mi Assist Legal different from just using Ctrl+F in a PDF?
Ctrl+F finds exact text matches. Mi Assist Legal understands semantic meaning. You can ask "What did the treating physician say about the plaintiff's prognosis?" and it will find the relevant passages across all uploaded documents even if the word "prognosis" does not appear verbatim. It reads across hundreds of documents simultaneously and returns answers with source citations so you can verify.
Next Step
See how Mi Assist Legal works for your firm.
15-minute call. Live demo on a real case file. We will walk through setup, pricing, and whether Mi Assist Legal fits your workflow.