Law Firm Research Charges and Cost Effective Research Skills

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Law Firm Research Charges and Cost Effective
Research Skills
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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
• Corporate Counsel Perceptions value of paid for
  research 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
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.
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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) ...?
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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.
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AFAs Billing Arrangements
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Aggressive Migration in the Marketplace
Lexis Advance has been in the market since 2010.
By the time 1Ls 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.

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• 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 employers Subscription Plan.
• Understanding how your employer manages online
  research performed for clients.
• Using the research features and tips shared
  today to become more efficient.

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Searching is free Pre/Post filtering is free
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Lexis Advance Documents In Out of Plan
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Lexis Advance Free Preview
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Lexis Advance Price Guide
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Time Efficient Features
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Topic Summaries
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Legal Issue Trail
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Delivery Options are free
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Shepards is free
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History is free for 90 days

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Work Folders

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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 firms 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.

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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
• Shepards 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

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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