Cost Effective Research on WestlawNext
Thomson Reuters Westlaw Instructional Aid Series
CONTENT
Introduction
WestlawNext New Pricing
Transactional Pricing
Hourly Pricing
Choosing the Best Pricing Option for Searching
Other Cost-Effective Services
2
WestlawNext – The Difference
WestlawNext is the next evolution in legal research
and it will help you to be more efficient in producing
strong work product through relevant results.
• With this evolution, there is an accompanying pricing
model that is easy to understand
• Great steps were taken to redefine what is
considered a chargeable event
• Pricing is tied to the documents you use to resolve
your issue rather than the number of searches you
run
3
WestlawNext – Important to Know
Keep in mind that subscription plans vary widely and
are highly customizable to meet firms’ needs
• Majority of WestlawNext customers have plans that
include the content they use most often
• Any prices shown hereafter reflect costs as if not
included in your plan*
• Costs may vary based on your subscription and for
specific sources
* Prices subject to change at any time
4
CONTENT
Introduction
WestlawNext New Pricing
Transactional Pricing
Hourly Pricing
Choosing the Best Pricing Option for Searching
Other Cost-Effective Services
5
WestlawNext—New Pricing
WestlawNext has two different options for pricing:
• Transactional Pricing: charges incurred by
transaction
• Hourly Pricing: charges incurred by the minute
Depending upon the type of research you are doing
one option may be more cost-effective than the other
You may change your pricing option depending upon
the type of research you are doing to ensure that you
are conducting the most cost effective research
6
Changing Your Pricing Preference
Select ‘Preferences’ from the bottom left side of the
screen. The Preferences screen will display. Select the
Billing Tab to change your settings. Once you have
selected your preference click ‘Save Changes’ from the
bottom of the screen. You must sign off for changes to
7
take place.
CONTENT
Introduction
WestlawNext New Pricing
Transactional Pricing
Hourly Pricing
Choosing the Best Pricing Option for Searching
Other Cost-Effective Services
8
WestlawNext – Transactional Pricing
• Generally, there are three broad categories of
chargeable events on WestlawNext:
– Searching for Documents (global search, cost recovery)
– Reviewing Documents (charged per document view, KeyCite)
– Document Delivery (print, email, download, etc.)
9
WestlawNext – Transactional Events
• Searching for Documents
– Your firm’s monthly rate covers searching for documents
both within and outside your plan’s content
– For cost recovery only, the use of the global search box
across the core content carries an “included” charge of $60*
for all searches
• Global searching removes the need for individual searches
across all content sets as a single search covers 13 content sets
• Our new search engine, WestSearch, heightens your efficiency
by automating the processes of expert researchers. Not only do
you save time, but searching across everything is more cost
efficient
*Pricing current through Sept 2011
10
WestlawNext – Transactional Events
• Reviewing Documents
– In the result list, the number of results returned for each
content set is seen on the left side of the screen
– Once you select a content set, you will see highlighting to
indicate where your terms are located within the document,
and the potential usefulness of the document
11
WestlawNext – Transactional Events
• Reviewing Documents
– In each content set there are filters
available that are specifically tailored
for that content which allow you to
narrow your results like never before.
– If a filter is applied, your results will be
reduced to those documents matching
your criteria.
– You can filter a result list as many times
as you like as there is no charge for the
use of any filters.
12
WestlawNext – Transactional Events
• Reviewing Documents
– When you find a document that is helpful, you can click into
it to view the full text.
– Clicking open the document incurs a transactional
document view charge. Transactional prices vary depending
on the type of document.
13
WestlawNext – Transactional Events
• Reviewing Documents
– Efficiency tools include purple highlighting, eyeglasses, and
download icons that appear near documents in your result
list.
– Easily see what documents you have:
• Added notations/highlighting
• Viewed in the last 30 days and/or
• Saved to a folder
– These tools help you understand where you are in your
research, saving you time and money by showing your
interactions with the documents so as to avoid duplicating
your research.
14
WestlawNext—Transactional Events
There is no charge for the following in transactional
pricing:
• Using the Filters or ‘Search Within’ feature
• Using “Search this document” feature
• Adding annotations to a document
• Browsing a Content Page
• Browsing a Table of Contents, KeyNumber Digest,
or Secondary Source Index
• Viewing the Scope screen for a Content Page
15
WestlawNext—Transactional Events
Index
Scope
Table of Contents
Key Number System
16
WestlawNext—Transactional Events
KeyCite
• Each citation checked in KeyCite incurs a charge of
$7.00*
• KeyCite charges may be included based upon your
WestlawNext subscription plan
*Pricing current through September 2011
17
WestlawNext – Transactional Events
• Delivery of Documents
– On WestlawNext, your delivery options include print, email,
download, kindle, export to Case Notebook or save to a
folder.
– Like on Westlaw.com, your pricing options for documents
include billing by line or by document.
• The charges incurred for delivery of documents included within
your plan will appear, for cost recovery purposes, as “included
charges.”
• You can change your pricing option within Preferences, as
previously discussed.
• Which option is more cost effective depends on the size of your
document.
– Prices vary depending on the type of document.
18
WestlawNext – Transactional Events
• Delivery of Documents
– Printing, emailing or downloading a document from a folder
carries the same charge as those formats from a document.
– Documents that are saved to a folder remain in the folder
until deleted.
– Documents that have been viewed and saved to a folder are
accessible without charge for one year from the date added
to the folder.
19
CONTENT
Introduction
WestlawNext New Pricing
Transactional Pricing
Hourly Pricing
Choosing the Best Pricing Option for Searching
Other Cost-Effective Services
20
WestlawNext – Hourly Events
• Browsing charges
– There are no search charges in hourly (per minute) billing.
Instead hourly billing includes browsing charges.
– Browsing charges are included in all WestlawNext
subscriptions.
– There are two browsing hourly rates
• Home Rate: For cost recovery purposes, browsing the home
page or content category pages, the included charge will show
as $5* per minute.
• Result List Rate: When browsing a search result list, the cost
recovery included charge will show as $10* per minute.
*Pricing current through September 2011.
21
WestlawNext – Hourly Events
• Document View, KeyCite & Communication Charges
– Communication charges of $0.22/minute* apply from sign-on
until you log-off.
– When you click open a document, a new hourly rate will be
charged. Each content type has a different per minute
charge when viewing a document .
– Each citation checked in KeyCite incurs a $10 per minute
billing rate.
• KeyCite charges may be included based on your WestlawNext
subscription plan.
*Pricing current through September 2011
22
CONTENT
Introduction
WestlawNext New Pricing
Transactional Pricing
Hourly Pricing
Choosing the Best Pricing Option for Searching
Other Cost-Effective Services
23
WestlawNext – Transactional v. Hourly
When to use Transactional:
• If you plan to spend most of your time researching
online doing the following:
– Reviewing, highlighting and annotating documents
– Applying & adjusting filters to tailor results
– Navigating through multiple content sets from a smaller
number of searches
– Sharing & reviewing documents with colleagues through
shared folders
24
WestlawNext – Transactional v. Hourly
When to use Hourly:
• If you plan to quickly use WestlawNext to
accomplish a task including:
– Obtain a document for which you know the citation.
– Check for the availability & coverage of a particular content
set.
25
CONTENT
Introduction
WestlawNext New Pricing
Transactional Pricing
Hourly Pricing
Choosing the Best Pricing Option for Searching
Other Cost-Effective Services
26
WestlawNext – Folders & History
• Folders
– Only available in transactional billing.
– If you save a document to a folder while in
hourly, you will incur a transactional viewing
charge when you come back to that document.
– Billing is suspended while viewing folders page.
• History
– History is saved for one year
– If you view a document but do not move it to a
folder, you can access it without charge until 2am
CST the following day.
– Hourly billing is not suspended on the History
page. Home Rate charges will apply.
27
Cost Effective Research on WestlawNext
Resources
• Subscriber Pricing Guide (for
commercial plans)
– Located on the WestlawNext home
page under Tools
• For specific plan costs, please contact your dedicated
Customer Service Representative
• For research assistance, contact the Reference
Attorneys 24 hours/day, 365 days/year
– 1.800.REF.ATTY (733-2889)
– Email Support: Reference Attorneys
28