The National Archive Case Law Similar Cases widget automatically surfaces relevant UK case law from the National Archives database, matched to the case you are currently working on.
Located on the Case Summary tab, the widget uses AI analysis to identify published court decisions that share key characteristics with your case, including practice area, jurisdiction, court level, and legal concepts.
This gives fee earners and case handlers instant access to relevant precedents without the need to conduct manual legal research.
Feature Overview
Purpose
Automatically identify and present relevant UK case law from the National Archives, enabling legal professionals to access case precedent directly from the Case Summary tab without leaving their current case.
Key Benefits
Automatic case law discovery – relevant cases are identified and presented without any manual searching
AI-powered relevance matching – cases are matched based on practice area momentarily – jurisdiction, court level, and legal concepts will be implemented in a future release
Transparent relevance scoring – each result includes a percentage-based relevance score with a detailed breakdown by matching factor
Direct access to full judgments – view case summaries in-platform or open the complete judgment on the National Archives website
Contextual case intelligence – understand why each case is relevant to yours through detailed similarity explanations
Always up to date – results refresh automatically each time you access the case or upon request
Target Users
Fee Earners
Case Handlers
Partners / Supervisors
Support Staff
Compliance Officers
Availability
The Similar Cases widget is available for Personal Injury, Family Law, Commercial/Litigation and Employment Law contentious practice areas where case law precedent is relevant. The widget will not be displayed for non-contentious practice areas.
Navigation & Access
Accessing the Similar Cases Widget
The Similar Cases widget is accessed through the following navigation path:
Navigate to the Cases Homepage via the left-hand side navigation panel.
Click on an individual case from the case list.
The Case Summary Page loads automatically as the default view for that case.
Locate the Similar Cases widget on the Case Summary tab, displayed alongside your other case information panels.
Screen Components & Layout
The Similar Cases widget is comprised of several components: the main widget panel displaying case cards, the Full Case Details modal for in-depth case review, and the All Relevant Cases modal for browsing the complete set of matched cases.
1. Similar Cases Widget Panel
Location
The widget is displayed on the Case Summary tab alongside other case information panels.
Purpose
Provide an at-a-glance view of the most relevant UK case law from the National Archives, matched automatically to the case you are working on.
Widget Header
Title – displays “National Archives – Similar Cases”
Three-Dot Menu (...) – click to access the following options:
– Settings – configure widget preferences [details to be confirmed]
– Help – access guidance and support information for the widget [details to be confirmed]
Information Displayed
The widget displays up to three case cards. Each card shows the following information:
Case Name – the name of the matched case
Neutral Citation – the official neutral citation reference for the case
Court and Date – the court that heard the case and the date of the decision
Relevance Score – a green percentage badge indicating how closely the case matches your current case (higher percentage indicates greater relevance)
Summary – a short summary of the matched case
Metadata Tags – tags sourced from the National Archives metadata, showing attributes such as practice area and jurisdiction
Interactive Elements
View Full Case Details – click this button on any card to open the Full Case Details modal with a comprehensive summary and access to the full judgment
Three-Dot Menu (...) on each card – click to access the “Why is this case relevant?” option, which displays a detailed relevance breakdown including:
– Overall Relevance Score – the combined relevance percentage
– Practice Area Match – percentage score for practice area alignment
– Court Authority – percentage score for court authority relevance
– Legal Concepts – percentage score for matching legal concepts
View All Relevant Cases – if more than three results are available, this button appears at the bottom of the widget showing the total count of matched cases. Click to open the All Relevant Cases modal
2. Full Case Details Modal
Location
Opens as a modal overlay when you click “View Full Case Details” on any case card.
Purpose
Provide a comprehensive review of a matched case, including a detailed summary, the outcome, court authority, key legal principles, and direct access to the full judgment on the National Archives website.
Summary Tab (Default)
The Summary tab opens by default and presents the case information in clearly defined sections:
Why This Case Is Similar to Yours – A highlighted box at the top of the modal listing the specific factors that caused this case to be matched to yours, such as shared practice area, jurisdiction, and legal concepts.
Outcome – A brief result statement summarising the outcome of the case, accompanied by a quoted explanation.
Case Summary – A paragraph covering the key facts and issues of the case.
Court Authority – Details of the court that heard the case, including its binding level and authority.
Key Legal Principles – The principal legal principles arising from the case, presented as highlighted yellow cards for quick reference.
Judgment Tab
Clicking the Judgment tab opens a new browser tab, taking you directly to the full judgment on the National Archives website. From there, you can read the complete decision or download it.
3. All Relevant Cases Modal
Location
Opens as a modal overlay when you click “View All Relevant Cases” at the bottom of the widget.
Purpose
Browse the complete set of cases matched to yours from the National Archives, beyond the three cards shown in the widget.
Information Displayed
Each entry in the list shows the same information as the widget cards:
Case Name
Neutral Citation
Court and Date
Relevance Score (green percentage badge)
Summary
Metadata Tags
A counter at the bottom of the modal confirms the total number of cases displayed.
Interactive Elements
View Details – click on any entry to open the Full Case Details modal for that case. When you close the Full Case Details modal, you are returned to the All Relevant Cases list so you do not lose your place.
Key Features
Automatic Case Law Discovery
The widget analyses your case’s practice area, jurisdiction, court level, and legal concepts to automatically identify relevant published court decisions from the National Archives. No manual searching is required. Results refresh each time you access the case, ensuring you always see the most current matches.
Relevance Scoring and Breakdown
Each matched case displays a relevance score as a green percentage badge, giving you an immediate indication of how closely it aligns with your current case. You can view a detailed breakdown of the score by clicking the “Why is this case relevant?” option from the three-dot menu on each card. The breakdown includes individual percentage scores for practice area match, court authority, and legal concepts.
In-Platform Case Summaries
The Full Case Details modal provides a structured summary of each matched case without leaving the CaseMatters platform. The summary includes the similarity explanation, outcome, case facts and issues, court authority and binding level, and key legal principles highlighted for quick reference.
Direct Access to Full Judgments
The Judgment tab within the Full Case Details modal opens the full judgment directly on the National Archives website in a new browser tab. From there, you can read the complete decision or download it for your records.
Browse All Matched Cases
Where more than three relevant cases are identified, the “View All Relevant Cases” button allows you to browse the complete set of matched cases. The list view maintains the same level of detail as the widget cards, and you can open the Full Case Details modal for any entry without losing your place in the list.
Step-by-Step Procedures
Procedure 1: Reviewing Similar Cases from the Widget
Click the Cases tab in the left-hand side navigation panel.
Click on the relevant case from the case list on the Cases Homepage.
The Case Summary Page will load automatically as the default view.
Locate the Similar Cases widget on the Case Summary tab.
Review the case cards displayed in the widget, noting the case name, relevance score, summary, and metadata tags for each.
Procedure 2: Viewing Full Case Details
Click “View Full Case Details” on any case card in the widget or in the All Relevant Cases modal.
The Full Case Details modal will open with the Summary tab displayed by default.
Review the “Why this case is similar to yours” box at the top for the matching factors.
Read through the Outcome, Case Summary, Court Authority, and Key Legal Principles sections.
To view the full judgment, click the Judgment tab, which will open the National Archives website in a new browser tab.
Close the modal to return to the Case Summary tab or the All Relevant Cases list.
Procedure 3: Understanding Why a Case Is Relevant
Locate the case card you wish to query in the widget.
Click the Three-Dot Menu (...) on the case card.
Select “Why is this case relevant?” from the menu.
Review the detailed relevance breakdown, which includes the overall relevance score, practice area match percentage, court authority percentage, and legal concepts percentage.
Procedure 4: Browsing All Relevant Cases
Locate the “View All Relevant Cases” button at the bottom of the widget (this button is only visible when more than three results are available).
Click the button to open the All Relevant Cases modal.
Browse the full list of matched cases, reviewing the case name, relevance score, summary, and tags for each.
Click “View Details” on any entry to open the Full Case Details modal for that case.
Close the Full Case Details modal to return to the All Relevant Cases list.
Review the counter at the bottom of the modal to confirm the total number of cases shown.
Procedure 5: Accessing the Full Judgment on the National Archives
Open the Full Case Details modal for the relevant case (via “View Full Case Details” or “View Details”).
Click the Judgment tab at the top of the modal.
A new browser tab will open, taking you directly to the full judgment on the National Archives website.
Read, download, or reference the complete decision as required.
Configuration Options
User Preferences
Users can access widget settings via the three-dot menu in the widget header:
Settings – configure widget preferences [details to be confirmed in a future release]
System Settings
Administrators can configure:
Practice area eligibility – define which contentious practice areas display the Similar Cases widget
Widget visibility – control whether the Similar Cases widget is enabled or disabled for specific user roles or case types
Training & Support
Getting Started
Navigate to any case from the Cases Homepage to view the Case Summary Page.
Locate the Similar Cases widget on the Case Summary tab.
Review the case cards displayed and their relevance scores.
Click “View Full Case Details” on a case card to explore the summary, outcome, and key legal principles.
Use the “Why is this case relevant?” option to understand the relevance breakdown.
Click the Judgment tab to access the full judgment on the National Archives website.
Best Practices
Check the Similar Cases widget when preparing for hearings or building case strategy
Review the relevance score breakdown to understand how closely a case aligns with yours before relying on it
Use the “View All Relevant Cases” button to explore the full set of matched cases beyond the initial three
Access the full judgment via the Judgment tab for detailed legal review and to verify key points
Note the court authority and binding level shown in the Full Case Details modal to assess the weight of each precedent
Support Resources
Documentation
User Guide available in Help Centre
Comprehensive help and support information available in Intercom hub
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