Jordan Rothman writes and he is correct on all fronts. Law firms ridding themselves of trained librarians ( or new ones not hiring someone , even if only part time) will miss out on a range of knowledge and skills that will work to the detriment of their organisation.
The training offered by law librarians was critical for me in learning how to be more efficient with my time and find the best information possible for clients.
Decades ago, it was not uncommon for major law firms to have expansive libraries with trained staff that could refer to printed materials and assist lawyers in research projects. Indeed, if you watch movies like “The Firm” and other legal films from years ago, they often show the law libraries upon which attorneys relied in prior eras. With the expanded popularity of computerized legal research platforms, law firms usually do not maintain expansive law libraries anymore and there are not too many law firm librarians that still work at many of the major firms. However, law librarians still have value since they can make attorneys more efficient and increase the amount of billable hours a lawyer can log for a firm.
When I was a summer associate about a decade ago, I worked at a firm that had a decent law library and several trained law librarians to assist attorneys and staff with research projects. At the time, it could be expensive to perform computer research, so it was often more efficient and cost-effective to consult printed materials. Law librarians had a good handle on the printed offerings of a law firm and how attorneys can consult such resources to best serve their clients.
Even in the modern era in which research of printed materials is not that common, law librarians still have immense value. Everyone knows how to use computerized research platforms to search for cases and statutes, but not everyone is skilled at culling the more uncommon resources on such platforms. For instance, it may be difficult to search the treatises and other similar materials in legal research platforms that digest information so attorneys do not need to conduct a survey of a field themselves. In addition, not every lawyer may be able to search model jury instructions, form offerings, and other resources that are used less often by lawyers. Law librarians can help lawyers access these materials and get to relevant information and materials as quickly as possible so they can get back to billing the most billable hours.
Read more https://abovethelaw.com/2021/10/law-librarians-still-have-value/
Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at [email protected].
