Cost Effective Lexis & Westlawand

Alternatives to Lexis & Westlaw

Sue Altmeyerc 2010

Topics Covered

The Cost of Lexis & Westlaw Frugal Lexis and Westlaw Use WestlawNext Cost Effective Use Low cost databases Free Internet Sources Library Sources (briefly)

Flat Rate Plans

Still care about cost effectiveness because:

client charged Item maybe outside of plan Greater Usage = Greater Cost for Flat Rate

Plan next year

How to tell when out of plan

Lexis- items outside of plan not accessible. Another account to access off plan. Or, may have dollar signs.

Westlaw- Message saying outside of plan. Or, Directory – click My Databases. Or set preferences to indicate off plan with *

Figures are from a Local Law Firm, 2008

2010 Westlaw Law Firm Costs

File/Services Hourly(Per Minute)

Transactional(Per Search)

All Federal Cases $19.05

Ohio State and Federal Cases

$23.08

Sixth Circuit Cases

$8.60

All Ohio Cases $8.60

Get a Document/Find

14.00 (primary), $24.00 (secondary)

Keycite $6.25

Computing Westlaw Costs

• Florida Briefs Multibase Click for rate

• Select rate = $26.42/min (see Westlaw 2010 Subscriber Agreement )

• Click Subscriber for per search cost

• Add communication charges - .22/min

• Add print/download costs – .05 per line or $27.50 per document

Cost-Saving Tips for Lexis/WL

See Efficient /Cost Effective Legal Research C-M Guide

Lexis – Conducting Efficient Research tutorial

Westlaw - Cost Effective Research » Powerpoint

CALI Lesson – Cost of Legal Reseach

?

Do you remember any of the tips for cost effective research on Lexis and Westlaw from your before-class assignments?

BEFORE you search

Ask librarian/managing partner about price plan.

Use print or lower cost databases

Plan your search before you go online

Call the Reference Attorneys

Cost Effective Searching

Narrowest Source Broad Search, then Focus/Locate Table of Contents Book Browse on LEXIS (not Westlaw) History (L) or Research Trail (W) Westlaw – search transactional or hourly?

Searching, Cont’d

Alerts

Search by Topic/Headnote (L); KeyNumber/ Keysearch (W)

Get a Document (L), Find (W) 50 state surveys

Cost Effective Printing

Westlaw decide per line or per document Print from browser Copy with Reference Get and Print, Find and Print

Keycite/Shepards

Brief Check to Shepardize; Westcheck to Keycite

WestlawNext

Flat rate plan When view a document, charged a Find if

that document is off-plan (will get warning) Save document in folder - access forever.

Document updates for one year for free. History saved one year

WestlawNext - Cost Recovery

=charging back to client $60 per search plus a find charge for items

clicked on

Cost Strategies for WestlawNext

Broad initial search Pull up the least amount of documents

needed Narrow using filters or search within results

(as many as desired)

Reference Attorney Phone Nos.

800 45 LEXIS 1-800-REF-ATTY (733-2889) (Westlaw) 1-800-850-9378 for law students (Westlaw)

Low Cost Databases

Stripped down versions of Lexis/WL

• Casemaker –Free w/ free student OSBA membership

• Fastcase – Free w/ Cleve bar membership

• Lois Law – C-M has, CLL has

• Versus Law – Free to Law students

Access to Low Cost Databases

Go to Library Website, Electronic Resources Page.

Casemaker: Free with FREE student membership to the Ohio State Bar Association OR Librarians can sign you in

Stripped Down Versions of Lexis/WL

What does Lexis/Westlaw have these do not? Editorial features – headnotes, annotations Practice Books (except Loislaw) Law Review articles Better search mechanisms and coverage

Stripped Down Versions of Lexis and Westlaw

Casemaker – best coverage for Ohio, except Ohio Misc. (1999-) Odd search syntax

Fastcase – Natural Language, Visual Charts Loislaw - Best terms and connectors, field

searching. Treatises. Alert searches. VersusLaw – Cheapest, worst coverage

ContentsUnannoStatutes

Casesw/oHeadnotes

Unanno

Regs

“Shepard’s –Like

Feature”

Other

Loislaw Yes Yes –

Ohio unreported

1997-

Yes Yes Treatises, Forms, Public Records

(depends on plan)

Casemaker

Yes Yes –

Ohio unreported 1981-

Yes Yes Some Jurisdictions - Jury Instruc., Jury Verdicts,

More

Contents

UnannoStatutes

Casesw/oHeadnotes

Unanno

Regs

“Shepard’s –Like

Feature”

Fastcase Internet links for 8 states

Fed App 1925-, Ohio 1950 -, Ohio unreported 2000-.Coverage

Mostly Internet

Links

Yes

Versuslaw

See help, Content/Features

Fed if pay more, no state

Ohio 1950 -. Ohio unreported 1995 -.

Older Fed District More $

Fed if pay more, no State

Yes

Searching

Boolean Natural Language

Fields Search databases together

Loislaw Yes - near2 No Yes Yes

Casemaker Yes - w/n, w/sent, w/para

No Yes Fed together, State together

Special Feature of Loislaw

“ MY SAVED SEARCHES”!

Searching

Boolean Natural Language

Fields Search databases together

Fastcase Yes - w/n Yes Date, cite look-up only

Yes

Versus Law

Yes - w/n Yes default connector is ADJ

4 fields, see help

For addtl fee

Primary & Secondary – Specific Subjects

BNA CCH RIA Checkpoint See Electronic Resources page for links.

NOT low cost, but not charged back to clients

BNA

Current Awareness PLUS Libraries: Primary & Secondary Sources

BNA Current Awareness

Articles, cases May contain past 12 years ex. U.S. Law Week/Supreme Court Today ;

Daily Labor Report (DLR expensive!). Sign up for BNA Current Awareness Services

BNA Libraries

Cases, statutes, regs Practice books Forms

ex. Labor and Employment Law Library , Intellectual Property Library or ABA/BNA lawyers' manual on professional conduct

CCH Intelliconnect

• Both Primary and Secondary Sources• Topics Covered:

AntitrustBanking Corporate GovernanceHealth Care and Medicaid/Medicare Labor & Employment, PensionsSecurities

CCH

Boolean searching, w/n etc. Federated Searching Indexes Current awareness emails –

Sign up Instructions Known for their fifty state charts Smart charts – create your own chart

Benefits of Low Cost Databases Over Free Internet

Better Search Mechanisms CoverageMay be more current Trustworthiness Aggregated Info – One stop shopping

What’s on the Free Web

All US Supreme Court Cases Reported Federal Appellate from 1882 Some Unreported Fed App, Fed District State cases: reported – 1950. unreported -

early-mid nineties

What’s on the Free Web, cont’d

Statutes & Regulations- federal and states Municipal Ordinances Law Review Articles Forms Dockets, Briefs & Pleadings

LOTS more!

Start with a Good Internet Portal

From the Library Home Page – Legal Research on the Web

Public Records & People Finders Cornell Legal Information Institute (LII) FindLaw Other Portals

Use LEGAL Search Engines

Cornell University Legal Research Engine LexisWeb FindLaw LawCrawler Justia List of Search Legal Engines

Case law

Google Scholar – state reported 1950-, fed circuit/ district 1923-

Ohio Supreme Court LexisOne – Last 10 yrs, Lexis searching Legal Research Workstation - Case Law

Web Sites to Know

C-M Guide Forms & Practice Materials Thomas.gov – Federal Legislative History FDSys - Fed’l Govt. (replaces GPO Access) PACER – Federal Court dockets Martindale Hubbell Law Digest

Library Resources

C-M - Lexis Academic Cleveland Public - Ohio Westlaw Pro se Lexis - Justice Center County Law Libraries – may charge fee to

use computer. Lexis, Westlaw or both

Assignment

Use ELECTRONIC SOURCES Do not use Lexis or Westlaw