Cost of Legal Research

We are all aware of the perils of poor electronic legal research skills. And, we have all heard of ways the misuse of electronic legal resources has challenged those engaged in legal practice. Though Westlaw® and Lexis® provide us with sophisticated functionality that can ease the pain of legal research, these systems do not necessarily provide the most cost efficient means of conducting research.

You may think that using them makes better use of your time, which necessarily results in savings to your clients, but remember, you will bill for the time you invest in electronic researching, in addition to the cost of the research, and if you have not developed a strategy to search effectively, you may incur increased research costs and additional man hours.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of the lesson, the student will be able to:

1. Explain how to avoid common pitfalls of poor research strategy when using Lexis® and Westlaw®.
2. List several cost-saving alternatives to Lexis® and Westlaw®.
3. Create an effective and cost-conscious strategy for any research problem.