- 1. Cost Effective Lexis & Westlaw andAlternatives to Lexis
& Westlaw Sue Altmeyer c 2011
2. Topics Covered
- The Cost of Lexis & Westlaw
- Frugal Lexis and Westlaw Use
- WestlawNext Cost Effective Use
- Library Sources (briefly)
3. Flat Rate Plans
- Still care about cost effectiveness because:
- Item maybe outside of plan
- Greater Usage = Greater Cost for Flat Rate Plan next year
4. 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*
5.
- Figures are from a Local Law Firm, 2008
6. 2010 Westlaw Law Firm Costs File/ServicesHourly (Per Minute)
Transactional (Per Search) All Federal Cases$19.05Ohio State and
Federal Cases$23.08Sixth Circuit Cases$8.60All Ohio Cases$8.60Get a
Document/Find14.00 (primary), $24.00 (secondary) Keycite $6.25 7.
Computing Westlaw Costs
- Florida Briefs MultibaseClickfor rate
- Select rate = $26.42/min (seeWestlaw 2010 Subscriber
Agreement)
- Click Subscriber for per search cost
- Add communication charges - .22/min
- Add print/download costs .05 per lineor $27.50 per
document
8. 9. 10. ?
- Do you remember any of the tips for cost effective research on
Lexis and Westlaw from your before-class assignments?
11. 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
12. Cost Effective Searching
- I to check database contents
- Broad Search, then Focus/Locate
- Book Browse on LEXIS (not Westlaw)
- History (L) or Research Trail (W) 24 hrs
- Westlaw search transactional or hourly?
13. Searching, Contd
- Search by Topic/Headnote (L); KeyNumber/ Keysearch (W)
- Get a Document BY CITATION (L), Find (W)
- Links Embedded in Documents
- Shepards/Keycite instead of search
14. Cost Effective Printing
- Westlaw decide per line or per document
- Get and Print, Find and Print
15. Keycite/Shepards
- Brief Checkto Shepardize;Westcheckto Keycite
16. WestlawNext
- When view a document, charged a Find if that document is
off-plan (will get warning)
- Save document in folder - access forever, costs after 1 yr.
Document updates for one year for free.
- History saved one year, but charges next day after 2 a.m.
17. WestlawNext - Cost Recovery
- $60 per search plus a find charge for items clicked on
- PLUS a find charge for items clicked on (Transactional Mode) OR
per minute charge (Hourly Mode)
- Cost chart Click on Tools tab, then Subscriber Pricing Guide
(non-discounted rates)
18. 19. 20. 21. Cost Effective WestlawNext
- Some SEARCHING hints are different than Classic Westlaw
- Keycite hints same, with some additional..
22. Some additional Keycite hints
- Case itself lists the most negative case
- Whether billed for keycite in addition to find depends on your
plan
- Limit Citing References, use headnotes, depth of treatment
- keycite or kc : If need keycite, not text of case
23. 24. Select a type of document to get filters, eg. cases 25.
26. Cost Effective WestlawNext
- Preferences link pick Hourly or Transactional.Begins charging
when click on Document.
- Narrow using filters or search within results (as many as
desired)
27. Cost Effective WestlawNext Searching - Transactional
- Pull up (Click on) the least amount of documents needed
- Documents ranked by relevance
- Use Folders & share (Free 1 yr and History (until 2 am
following day)
28. Show Less or More Detail 29. More WestlawNext Searching
hints
- Use Table of Contents instead of Book Browse
- Use Keycite for research instead of a search
30. Lexis Advance
- For Solos - $175/month, $315 for two lawyer firm
- A bargain typically $3000 or more/
31. Reference Attorney Phone Nos.
- 1-800-REF-ATTY (733-2889) (Westlaw)
- 1-800-850-9378 for law students (Westlaw)
32. Low Cost Databases 33. Stripped down versions of
Lexis/WL
- Casemaker Free w/ free student OSBA membership
- Fastcase Free w/ Cleve bar membership
- Lois Law C-M no longer has, CLL has
- Versus Law Free to Law students
34. Stripped Down Versions of Lexis/WL
- What does Lexis/Westlaw have these do not?
- Editorial features headnotes, annotations
- Practice Books (except Loislaw)
- Better search mechanisms and coverage
35. 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
36. Contents Unanno Statutes Cases w/o Headnotes Unanno Regs
Shepards LikeFeature 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 37. Contents Unanno Statutes
Cases w/o Headnotes Unanno Regs Shepards LikeFeature 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 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50.
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 51. 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 52. 53. Primary
& Secondary Specific Subjects
- SeeElectronic Resourcespage for links.
- NOT low cost, but not charged back to clients
- Have primary and secondary sources, current awareness
54. BNA Current Awareness
- May contain past 12 years
- ex.U.S. Law Week/Supreme Court Today
55. BNA Libraries
- ex.ABA/BNA Lawyers' Manual on Professional Conduct ,Labor and
Employment Law Library ,Tax and Accounting Resource Center -
more
56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. CCH Intelliconnect
- Both Primary and Secondary Sources
- Topics Covered: Antitrust BankingCorporate Governance Health
Care and Medicaid/MedicareLabor & Employment, Pensions
Securities
62. CCH
- Boolean searching, w/n etc.
- Current awareness emails Sign up Instructions
- Known for their fifty state charts
- Smart charts create your own chart
63. 64. 65. 66. 67. Benefits of Low Cost Databases Over Free
Internet
- Aggregated Info One stop shopping
68. Whats 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
69. Whats on the Free Web, contd
- Statutes & Regulations- federal and states
- Dockets, Briefs & Pleadings
70. Start with a Good Internet Portal
- From the Library Home PageLegal Research on the Web
- Public Records & People Finders
- Cornell Legal Information Institute (LII)
71. Use LEGAL Search Engines
- Cornell University Legal Research Engine
72. Case law
- Google Scholar state reported 1950-, fed circuit/ district
1923-
- LexisOne Last 10 yrs, Lexis searching
- Legal Research on the Web - Cases
73. 74. Google Advanced Operators
- AROUND ex. constitution AROUND(5) "home rule
- ~ searches for synonyms and related words ex.
~constitutionality - searches for constitutional, unconstitutional,
etc.
- * placeholder for a word. Ex. sexual * abuse picks up sexual
misconduct abuse, sexual child abuse, etc.
75. Web Sites to Know
- Thomas .gov Federal Legislative History
- PACER Federal Court dockets
- Some dockets have full text documents ex. Ohio Montgomery &
Summit Counties, federal
- Martindale Hubbell Law Digest
76. Library Resources
- Cleveland Public - Ohio Westlaw
- Pro se Lexis - Justice Center
- County Law Libraries may charge fee to use computer. Lexis,
Westlaw or both
77. Assignment
- Do not use Lexis or Westlaw
