It’s this sort of internal policy decision at law firms that’s going to strike the fear of God into executives at Lexis & West.
US based legal blog "Above The Law" has managed to get its hands on documentation from national US law firm Locke Lord Bissell instructing staff to use the cheaper Lois Law for non-billable legal research before they go to the main legal databases of Lexis & Thomson.
In itself this isn’t going to bring the two behmoths crashing down but as the recession bites especially in the US & UK we would presume more firms are going to request that employees use cheaper or free access information sources before going to Lexis or West.
It’s our impression at HOB that in the past it’s been up to users at firms to decide best how to go about their searches. As the money gets tighter it looks as though internal firm policies will become tougher with regard to paid searches and databases.
This obviously doesn’t spell a "detroit" situation for the big publishers but will no doubt chip away at their margins.
Here’s the Above The Law Report
Locke Lord Bissell swapping Lexis for Lois
Monday, February 9, 2009 2:52 PM – By Kashmir Hill
As firms deal with the difficult economic environment, they’re looking for ways to cut back on costs (that don’t involve firing their associates). Kirkland got rid of the granola. K&L Gates went to one-ply toilet paper. A LittleLaw firm in Minnesota said goodbye to Kleenex.
We don’t know the status of the paper goods or bagels at Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell, but we do know the firm is cutting back on its legal research costs. A Locke Lord associate tells us the firm is embracing Loislaw for non-billable legal research:
Thanks to the faltering economy, we are now required to use Loislaw instead of Lexis or Westlaw for certain things.
Unlike its more expensive counterparts, Loislaw has one "low, all-inclusive flat rate, with no hidden charges for printing, copying, downloading, or hyperlinking to primary law or analytic materials outside the scope of a current subscription." Loislaw will now be Locke Lord’s destination for primary legal research. To travel on to Westlaw or Lexis, a client has to be footing the bill. From the firm memo announcing the new policy:
* All non-billable legal research involving case law, statutes or regulations at both the state and federal level should first be performed using Loislaw. * Loislaw should also be used for billable research where appropriate, resulting in a much lower cost to the client. * If additional research is required on Lexis or Westlaw that research must be billed to a client/matter.
Full memo from Locke Lord on the switch to one-ply legal research, after the jump.
LOCKE LORD BISSELL & LIDDELL FIRM-WIDE MEMORANDUM
In today’s economic climate we recognize that our clients are becoming increasingly sensitive to legal research costs passed on to them as disbursements. In an effort to enable you to reduce the frequency and dollar amount of these charges, the Information Services Department has entered into a firm-wide contract with Loislaw, a legal research service owned by Wolters Kluwer/CCH. Loislaw allows searching Primary Law (cases, statutes & regulations) on the National and State level. A detailed list of the contents of the database is included at the end of this e-mail.
The Houston office has been using this service for several years for both non-billable and billable research whenever possible. It is not viewed as a substitute for Lexis or Westlaw, but as a tool to be used to familiarize yourself with precedent related to new cases or issues or simply to find cases, statutes or regulations. You can then continue your research on Lexis or Westlaw allowing you to complete your research in substantially less time and a lower cost to your client and/or the Firm. The Firm pays Loislaw a reasonable fixed fee for the year and receives unlimited service. You will have the ability to add a client/matter number when you want to bill the client, but will not be forced to do so for non-billable research
The following Guidelines for Legal Research are effective immediately.
* All non-billable legal research involving case law, statutes or regulations at both the state and federal level should first be performed using Loislaw.
* Loislaw should also be used for billable research where appropriate, resulting in a much lower cost to the client.
* If additional research is required on Lexis or Westlaw that research must be billed to a client/matter..
Training Available
Subscribers are referred to the Legal Pro site (http://business.cch.com/legalprotraining) for hands-on, web-based instruction by a Legal Training Consultants. There is also a complete training handbook available on-line at www.loislaw.com. I have attached a copy of a Quick Reference Card that should enable you to get started with searching right away. If a number of attorneys would prefer in-house training, we can arrange for that as well.
Immediate Access Available
The link to Loislaw is available on the Information Services Portal Page under Legal Research Links.
Let us know if you have any questions regarding this new service.
Sandy Gold, Chicago
Joan Hass, Dallas
Charles Gibson, Houston
http://abovethelaw.com/2009/02/locke_lord_bissell_swapping_le.php
