Law Firm Research Charges and Cost Effective Research Skills
Agenda
• Legal Research Cost Recovery Trends
• Commercial Adoption of Lexis Advance
• Lexis Advance pricing/managing costs
• Cost Effective Research Skills
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2011Cost Recovery & AFA Survey:
Large Law Firms & Corporate Counsel
• Law Firm Economics
- – value of paid for research
• Corporate Counsel Perceptions
services
• Billing & Cost Recovery Practices
• Alternative Fee Arrangements
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• Online research costs typically comprise less than 10% of total
law firm expenses in Large Law and less than 5% in Mid-Law.
Online Research
Costs as a Percentage
of Total Expenses
Online Research Costs as Percent of Expenses:
AmLaw 200 vs. Remainder of Large Law
Base: Firms that bill
clients for online research
costs
Total
Large
Law
Base:
10% or less (net)
1% to 4%
5% to 10%
11% to 30%
31% to 50%
51% to 80%
81% to 100%
Average Percentage
197
67%
36%
32%
17%
11%
6%
0%
14%
Question: Thinking about your firm's total expenses, approximately what percentage of total
expenses do online research costs represent after you recover charges billed to clients?
Base: Firms that bill clients for online research costs
Note: Large Law is defined as firms with 51+ attorneys. Mid-Law is defined as firms with 21-50 attorneys.
AmLaw
200
46
All Other
Large Law
129
61%
30%
30%
26%
11%
2%
0%
14%
67%
36%
31%
16%
12%
5%
0%
14%
Three-fourths of corporate counsel (75%) believe that the value of
online research conducted by outside counsel is commensurate
with or exceeds the cost.
N= 158 Corporate Counsel
Question: Do you perceive that the value of online research conducted on your behalf by outside
counsel typically (meaning more times than not) ...?
Reliability and accuracy of search results are the most important
factors driving the value of online research for corporate counsel.
N= 158 Corporate Counsel
Question: Which of the following factors contribute to the value you receive from the research outside
counsel conducts on your organization's behalf? Select all that apply.
AFAs & Billing Arrangements
Aggressive Migration in the Marketplace
Lexis Advance has been in the market since 2010.
By the time 1L’s graduate, we expect 100% of our
customers to have access to Lexis Advance.
Have Lexis Advance Today:
• Over 80% of Am Law 100 firms
• Over 60% of Am Law 200 firms
• Rapidly migrating Small Law firms
• Rapidly migrating Government customers
• US Supreme Court, US Court of Appeals,
numerous circuit courts
• State & Local Government
• Federal agencies including Dept. of Commerce,
DOJ, Dept. of Defense and many more.
How much does
Lexis Advance cost?
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Commercial Pricing Basics
• Subscription Pricing Plan: Most firms, courts, and agencies
that have access to Lexis have a subscription pricing plan.
*Solo practitioner packages range $75 - $250 per month
Managing Plans:
- Overhead
- Bill Back
*Transactional (pay as you go): Access to LexisNexis but pay retail rates for each
search “transaction”
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Lexis Advance Pricing
Lexis Advance Retail Pricing: Pricing is based on a per document access
model. For example, there is no charge to run a search across all content,
browse cite lists, and filter results. A document access charge only occurs
when a document is opened.
NOTE: ONLY applies if billing research back or accessing content out of plan and
discounts may apply. Majority of students will not be billing research to clients
and rarely accessing content out of plan.
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What is Cost Effective Research?
• Achieving a high level of competence using the product.
• Asking your employer questions about the topic/issue assigned
so you have a strong foundation to begin your research.
• Understanding your employer’s Subscription Plan.
• Understanding how your employer manages online research
performed for clients.
• Using the research features and tips shared today to become
more efficient.
Searching is free & Pre/Post filtering is free
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Lexis Advance®: Documents In & Out of Plan
14
Lexis Advance: Free Preview
15
Lexis Advance: Price Guide
16
Time Efficient Features
17
Topic Summaries
18
Legal Issue Trail
19
Delivery Options are free
20
Shepard’s® is free
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History is free for 90 days
•
Work Folders
•
Review
• Lexis Advance is available at the majority of firms, courts and agencies
• Most customers have a flat rate subscription pricing plan
• Less than 10% of a law firm’s expenses are for online research (majority
between 1-4%)
• The vast majority of Corporate Counsel (75%) deem the value of online legal
research by outside counsel to be at least equal to the cost
• Top 3 factors driving value of online research:
*Reliability & accuracy of results
*Current and up to date information
*Comprehensiveness of Database
• Majority of students will NOT be incurring research charges.
Review
Take advantage of cost effective features like:
• Free to Search and Filter
• Free Preview and Out of Plan notification
• Save time with Legal Issue Trail, Topic Summaries, Lexis Web, Table of
Contents…
• Shepard’s is free
• Work Folders – time efficient and documents free for a year
• History – free for 90 days
• Document Delivery is free
• Customer Service is free
Additional Resources
• NEW video: Law Firm Simulation: Understanding research charges
on Lexis Advance
• Updated Video: Researching Cost Effectively with Lexis Advance
• Updated Literature: Be Cost Effective for Employers and Clients
• Think Like a Lawyer site: www.lexisnexis.com/tlal