In what I think is the second installment of my race to catch all of you up with what I've been doing (I discussed law firm business licenses a couple of days ago), I'm here to talk today about online legal research providers - in particular, my journey to deciding on what to do for my legal research needs.
When I started out figuring out what I was going to do with legal research, I bandied about the thought of trying to use some of the free online resources that are available out there. I can really only think of justia, I think, right now, but I know there are others out there. And, actually, let me back up for one moment and give you an overview of my experiences with online research.
First, I went to law school 2002-2005. Believe it or not, I think that was about the time the true online legal research explosion was beginning to really take hold. In our legal research and writing class, for the first semester we actually had to go to the library and sift through the case books to do our legal research! I'm not sure if they do that today or not, but what a waste of a semester. And what did they say "what are you going to do if you can't find it online?" Trust me, if I can't find it online, something so major has happened that it doesn't matter.
I think when I was in law school Lexis won the battle to be our teacher of legal research. So I kind of "grew up" with them. And after getting to experience what they have to offer (and Westlaw too), I don't know how you could ever want to go to the bookshelves to do legal research. After law school I went back and forth from westlaw to lexis, depending upon my job. I thought they were both fine. They both are intuitive in their own respects, and it takes a little time to become familiar with both services.
So, back to present day. I tried the free stuff and I couldn't get past the lack of shepardizing the cases. Often the best cases I find are those that show up in the shepardizing research screen. And it is a little nerve racking not knowing if the great case you just found is or isn't currently good law. So, paid legal research was the way for me.
I contacted both lexis and westlaw and figured I'd go with the cheaper option. Lexis called me the same day and had a proposal to me by the next. And the guy called me every day for a week to discuss a proposed plan and see if what he was offering was what I was looking for (and he knew I wouldn't be buying for about a month because I wasn't doing anything until I got my bar results). Westlaw got back to me about 10 days later and then followed up a week after that.
Even though Lexis was a bit pricier (it is going to cost me $125/month for Washington, 9th circuit, and supreme court vs. $100/month from westlaw for the same thing) I was impressed with the service lexis was providing before I even signed up, so I went with them. As a new small business owner, I thought long and hard about the attention I received when two people are competing for my business, I want the service to work and I want to be able to get help if I can't figure it out. Lexis does that for me. So, even though it was not the last legal research tool I used, I'm back with them.
So, when starting a law firm, make sure you get everything you need, and nothing less. Recognize that price isn't everything for the services that you'll be purchasing (it isn't everything with your services is it? I know I'm not the cheapest attorney in town). Look for the hidden value that may exist.
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