Getting Started Guide
Welcome to Lexplorer – the AI-powered legal research platform for Switzerland. This guide will help you work quickly and efficiently with Lexplorer. It explains the key areas of the application and provides practical tips for optimal research results.
Contents
Research is the heart of Lexplorer. Here you conduct legal searches, receive AI-powered analyses, and navigate through court decisions, literature, statutes, and web sources. The interface is split into two main areas: the search input and results list on the left, and the detail view of the selected result on the right.
| Tab | Description |
|---|---|
| Search | The main view for submitting search queries and browsing results. |
| History | Shows your archived search queries with timestamps. Click an entry to reload the search. Entries with the "Analysis available" badge contain a saved AI summary. |
| Repository | Your personal archive. Here you'll find decisions and analyses you saved during research. |
| AI Assistant | A dedicated chat assistant for in-depth legal analysis and follow-up questions. |
The search form consists of two input fields and a filter area:
Describe your legal question or the facts of your case in natural language. Lexplorer understands legal concepts and finds relevant decisions, even when they use different terminology. The more specific and detailed you describe the facts, the better the results will be.
Tip: Write complete sentences instead of individual keywords. Instead of "lease termination", write "Under what conditions can a landlord terminate a lease agreement due to personal use?"
Below the main field, you can enter additional keywords. This field works complementary to the AI search query: while the AI searches semantically for matching concepts, keywords ensure that a specific term actually appears in the document.
When to use keywords? Whenever a specific term must be present –
e.g. a case reference ("4A_123/2024"), a judge's name,
a place name, or a specific legal term. Use "..." (quotation marks)
for exact phrases. Additional operators (AND, OR, NOT, fuzzy search, etc.) are available
directly in the input field via the help icon.
Important: Choosing the right filters is critical for the quality of your results. If you select the wrong sources or leave too many irrelevant sources active, the AI model may not find the right matches and could, in the worst case, provide an incorrect answer. The consequence: loss of trust in the tool – even though the result would have been correct with the right filters.
Click the "Filter" button to open the filter dialog. Here you define which sources are searched and which time period is considered. The currently active sources are displayed as chips below the search fields.
Sources are organized into thematic groups (e.g. Federal Supreme Court, Cantonal Courts, Tax Law, Literature, Web Sources). Each group can be expanded to select or deselect individual sources.
Restrict the search to a specific time period – e.g. only decisions from 2020 onwards. Select a "From" and "To" year using the date picker.
To avoid reconfiguring sources for every search, Lexplorer offers filter presets:
Best Practice for Filters:
1. Researching a specific legal area? Select only the relevant sources.
For a tax law question: enable the Federal Supreme Court, tax courts, and
tax law publications – disable all other sources.
2. Cantonal question? Limit yourself to the relevant canton and
the superior court instance.
3. Unsure which sources are relevant? Start with a broader
selection and refine after the first result.
After submitting the search, results appear in the left panel. The display is divided into several sections:
Fewer Results, Higher Quality: Unlike traditional legal research tools, Lexplorer intentionally shows fewer results. The AI automatically filters out non-relevant hits, so you only see the truly matching results. If you need more results, you'll find the "Search Deeper" button at the end of the list to expand the search. Using the eye icon in the results list, you can also re-show the hits filtered out by the AI.
At the top, an AI ANALYSIS appears – an automatically generated summary of the key findings from the discovered sources. This summary is collapsible. Click "Show more" to see the full synthesis. You can ask a follow-up question directly below the summary to deepen the analysis.
When available, Lexplorer shows the five most frequently referenced decisions in the context of your search. These leading cases are often the best starting point for in-depth research.
The main results list offers the following features:
Each result card shows:
When you click a result, the detail view opens on the right. The display varies depending on the result type:
The most comprehensive detail view – structured as follows:
A color-coded box shows why the decision is relevant (or not relevant) for your search. The AI provides a specific explanation here.
The decision is summarized in three sections:
The summary can be displayed in multiple languages. Use the language selector to switch between available translations. In split mode, you can view two languages side by side.
If available, the original headnote (Regeste) of the court is displayed – clearly marked as original text.
Two sections show the decision's cross-references:
Each reference is clickable and leads directly to the corresponding decision.
Literature results (academic publications, commentaries) also have their own detail view with metadata, summary, and – where available – a PDF viewer.
Law articles open in a dedicated view with the full article text and an integrated law browser for navigating through related articles.
Web results are not displayed in the detail view but instead open directly in a new browser tab. Before opening, a notice appears informing you that you are leaving Lexplorer to visit an external website.
Via the "PDF" tab in the detail view, the integrated PDF viewer opens with the original document. Features:
The Workbench is your workspace for case-based, in-depth research. While the Research section is designed for individual search queries, the Workbench serves to organize, structure, and share an entire research project on a specific topic or case. Think of it as your digital case file.
Typical Scenario: You are preparing for a specific case. In the Workbench, you create a repository for this case, organize relevant decisions into folders (e.g. "In our favor" / "Against us" / "Law Articles"), upload your own documents, and use the AI assistant for in-depth analysis – all in one place. Using the sharing feature, colleagues can access the repository and collaborate.
The interface is split into three panels whose size you can adjust by dragging the dividers. On mobile devices, you switch between panels using the tab bar.
| Panel | Function |
|---|---|
| Left – File-Explorer | Repository and folder structure. Manage and organize your documents here. |
| Center – Document View | Opened documents in tabs. View multiple documents simultaneously. |
| Right – AI Assistant | Chat-based legal research assistant with verification and source checking. |
The File-Explorer shows your repositories with a folder structure. Each repository is a self-contained workspace for a topic or case.
Use the icon bar on the left edge to switch between different views:
| Icon | View | Description |
|---|---|---|
| File-Explorer | File tree with folders and documents (default view) | |
| Timeline | Chronological log of all activities in the repository | |
| Connections | Visualization of relationships between documents | |
| Tasks | Task management within the repository | |
| SharePoint | Connected SharePoint documents (if configured) |
The center panel displays opened documents as tabs. You can open multiple documents simultaneously and switch between them with a click.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Entity Recognition | Automatic extraction of persons, organizations, dates, monetary amounts, and other relevant entities from the document. |
| AI Summary | Automatic summarization of decisions in three parts: facts, considerations, ruling. |
| Reference Network | Shows which other decisions a ruling cites and which cite it. |
| Translation | Translate decisions and documents into other languages. |
| Download | Download PDFs with a stamp. |
The AI Assistant is your personal legal research partner. Unlike the simple search function, the assistant can create comprehensive legal analyses, draft structured notes, and conduct targeted searches in court decisions, statutes, and external documents. You can drag documents from the File-Explorer directly into the chat via drag & drop to give the assistant additional context.
You can choose how thoroughly the assistant should research. The response mode affects the depth of analysis and response time:
| Mode | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Fast | approx. 30 sec. | Short, direct answers without in-depth analysis. Ideal for simple questions or quick assessments. |
| Normal | approx. 1–2 min. | Balanced answers with moderate depth. A good compromise for most questions. |
| Thorough | approx. 2–3 min. | Comprehensive research with detailed analysis. Recommended for complex legal questions where completeness is important. |
Using the "Adjust Filters" button, you define which sources the assistant searches. The filter offers the same options as in Research – court sources (federal and cantonal), time period, and statute search. Here too: choosing the right filters is critical. Restrict sources to your current legal area, so the assistant searches the relevant sources and delivers more precise answers.
Using the "Allow Web Search" toggle, the assistant can search the internet in addition to internal legal sources. We recommend enabling web search – it extends research to include:
Web search is disabled by default. When enabling it, a confirmation dialog appears, as your search query is sent (anonymized) to an external search provider.
Verification is one of the most important features of the AI Assistant. It systematically checks whether the statements in an AI response are supported by actual sources. This is critical, as AI models can occasionally generate information that sounds plausible but is not backed by real case law or legislation.
During verification, each response from the assistant is broken down into individual claims. Each claim is then checked against the underlying sources and receives one of four statuses:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Supported | The statement is fully supported by the sources. |
| Partial | The statement is only partially or indirectly supported by the sources. |
| Unsupported | No supporting source was found for this statement. |
| Contradicted | The sources contradict this statement. |
Not every claim carries equal weight. Verification distinguishes three levels:
From the weighting and statuses of all claims, an overall percentage is calculated (e.g. "82% supported"), indicating how well the response is overall backed by sources.
By default, auto-verification is enabled: every response from the assistant is automatically verified. You can disable this feature via the "Auto-Verification: On/Off" toggle if you prefer to trigger verification manually as needed (via the "Verify message" button).
Important: Verification does not replace your own legal review. It is a tool to quickly identify which statements are source-based and where particular caution is warranted. Treat responses with a low support percentage or "unsupported" core statements with appropriate caution.
The News section keeps you informed about the latest court decisions and legal developments. It is divided into two areas: the category selection on the left, and the content of the selected category on the right.
In the News section, you can see at a glance which new Federal Supreme Court decisions have been published and which new documents and sources have been added to the Lexplorer database. This keeps you informed without having to actively search.
Each decision is displayed as a card with the following information:
Tip: Check the News section regularly to discover new leading cases and newly added sources early – especially in your main area of practice.
The Library provides access to curated legal publications, commentaries, and reference materials. On the left you see the available library categories, on the right the documents of the selected category.
Documents in a category are displayed as cards with a thumbnail preview. In the default view, you see a horizontal, scrollable row. Click "Show all" to switch to a grid view with pagination (12, 24, or 36 documents per page).
Clicking a document opens a split view:
Note: Some libraries are only accessible with certain subscriptions. Inaccessible categories are marked with an info icon. Contact us for a subscription upgrade.
Lexplorer supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP) – an open standard that enables AI applications to access external data sources. Via MCP, you can use the entire Lexplorer database (decisions, statutes, literature) directly in your preferred AI tool, without opening the Lexplorer interface.
What does this mean? Any AI tool that supports MCP (e.g. Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and many others) gains automatic access to the entire Lexplorer database after setup – including semantic search, decision details, and law articles. You can use your preferred AI environment and seamlessly integrate Lexplorer as a legal source.
Here's how to connect Lexplorer with Claude (claude.ai):
https://mcp2.lexplorer.ch/sse
From now on, Claude can access the Lexplorer database in every conversation – search decisions, retrieve law articles, and conduct legal research as if the entire Swiss legal database were part of its knowledge.
Tip: The MCP connection works with any tool that supports the MCP standard.
The setup is similar in each case – you only need the URL
https://mcp2.lexplorer.ch/sse and your Lexplorer credentials.
Website: lexplorer.ch
Email: hello@lexplorer.ch