# Legal Research
> Source: https://legalcode.md/use-cases/legal-research | [HTML version](https://legalcode.md/use-cases/legal-research)

Primary source legal research across 24 jurisdictions — your queries stay local.

Legal research means finding the authoritative answer, not a plausible-sounding approximation. Legalcode connects your AI agent to live primary legal sources — statutes, regulations, and official guidance — across 24 jurisdictions, so research outputs are grounded in current law, not training data.

## How It Works

1. **State your research question** -- Ask a legal question in plain language — the agent determines the applicable jurisdictions, areas of law, and relevant source types. Your query is processed with zero data retention — search content is not logged or stored.

2. **Agent retrieves current primary sources** -- Legalcode's MCP server searches the live legal database, returning the current text of applicable statutes, regulations, and regulatory guidance — not summaries or training data.

3. **Sources are read and synthesised** -- The agent reads the retrieved sources, identifies the applicable provisions, and synthesises a research memo with the governing legal rule, its exceptions, and any unsettled questions.

4. **Citations pinned to source** -- Every proposition in the memo is pinned to a specific provision or document with a verifiable reference — making the output auditable and suitable for lawyer review. Combine with your local matter files for a complete picture.

## Outputs

- Research memo with governing legal rule and exceptions
- Citation list with provision-level references
- Jurisdiction comparison where multiple jurisdictions are relevant
- Open questions and areas of legal uncertainty flagged
- Links to primary source documents

## Jurisdictions

US, UK, EU, CA, AU, NZ, SG, HK, IE, DE, FR, NL, SE, NO, DK, IS, CH, BR, IN, JP, ZA, KE, AE, MX

## FAQ

### How current is the legal data?

Legalcode's legal database is updated daily from primary source pipelines. For each jurisdiction, source recency is shown in the coverage panel — so you can see when data was last updated.

### Are my research queries logged or stored?

No. Legalcode operates with zero data retention on search content. Your research questions are not logged, stored, or used for model training. This is fundamentally different from web SaaS research platforms, which typically retain your queries and research history on their servers.

### Can I combine Legalcode research with my local case files?

Yes — that's a core advantage of working locally. Because Legalcode plugs into your AI agent, you can combine primary source research with your local case files, internal memos, privileged communications, and any other tool or data source in one session. No uploading, no switching between platforms.

### Can Legalcode research questions that cross multiple jurisdictions?

Yes. Multi-jurisdiction research is one of Legalcode's core strengths. The agent can run parallel queries across jurisdictions and produce a comparative analysis in a single research memo.

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*Legalcode -- legalcode.md*