Law Librarian Blog

Law Librarians and Electronic Discovery

EDD (electronic data discovery or e-discovery) is all over the news these days as law firms and corporations struggle with internal information management and discovery, and learn the ropes of the new FRCP rules.  Law.com has three articles in just the last day or two here, here, and here.  It seems to me an it's area ripe for lawyer-librarian or corporation-information specialist collaboration and increasing the value of librarianship to the parent institution.  Who knows how to mine data better than librarians?  Who can better organize information than librarians?  Who knows the ins and outs of metadata better than librarians?  Just wondering, and also wondering if any librairans are doing this already.  If you know of any, let me know!  [JJ]

LawFirmInc. Survey Identifies Issues Being Addressed by Large Law Firm Librarians

LawFirmInc. Survey

Finances Resources Staffing Electronic Research

Reporting on an ABA Journal Blog post, Mitchell H. Rubinstein, Adjunct Law Prof Blog, notes that big law firm librarians are spending more time on rainmaking by performing marketing and competitive intelligence research which increases their prominence and influence with the lawyers who employ them. See his post, Big Law Firm Law Librarians As Rainmakers. A good thing and one that grew out of the rather tedious 1980s practice of using online resources for conflicts research. This conclusion was one of many based on LawFirmInc.'s sixth annual survey of law firm librarians at Am Law 200 firms.

Some snips from Law.com's Survey Says Librarians Like Their Jobs but Are Displeased With Vendors, also based on the LawFirmInc. survey.

Budget Cuts: According to the survey, the average law library budget decreased 3.5 percent in 2007, coming in at $4,251,627 -- compared with $4,408,242 in 2006. And only 45 percent of firms have more full-time library employees than they did two years ago. The average law library staff size is currently 19. Cost recovery has become more difficult, too, with clients increasingly demanding that online research tools be treated as overhead. But perhaps the biggest headaches are coming from the content providers, the vendors who sell access to electronic research tools. They continue to raise licensing fees, introduce new products and market their wares aggressively -- often directly to lawyers.

Vendors: [L]ibrarians clearly have their pet peeve: the online content providers, particularly the big two, Reed Elsevier Plc's LexisNexis and Thomson Corp.'s Westlaw. There was a time when electronic services were supposed to replace books and lower costs. They've done neither. Instead, fees continue to rise each year -- well beyond the rate of inflation, say librarians (licensing fees are typically covered by confidentiality agreements).

On a scale of 1 (very good) to 5 (very bad), LexisNexis scored just a 2.43 for overall satisfaction, marginally better than Westlaw at 2.51. And those numbers are down from last year (when the services scored 2.37 and 2.42, respectively).

Knowledge Management: For most of the last 10 years, knowledge management was overhyped and underdeveloped, but projects are finally gaining momentum, and librarians are playing a key role: Eighty-four percent of those surveyed say that they are actively involved in their firm's KM efforts. The work, they say, can't simply be handed over to the IT department.

Check out the entire Law.com article for details, links to the article's tables provided above. [JH]

Getting into a China-related Law Practice

Firm and corporate law librarians may find a recent post on Chinese Law Prof Blog by GW Law Prof Donald C. Clark interesting because it provides resources that discuss how one establishes a law practice that focuses on China. [JH]

Law Firm Survey: Federal Reporter and Federal Supplement Retention and Retrieval Practices

More and more law firms are facing space issues and budget constraints. This year our firm discussed the reduction or elimination of our Federal Reporter and Federal Supplement series as one possible option to address this issue. We are all aware of the amount of space these sets consume and their annual expense. To make an informed decision, we decided to conduct a quick survey of other firms and see how they are addressing this situation. The survey I sent consisted of four questions that focused on the retention of hard copy reporters, how the costs for retrieval of decisions via WEXIS are handled (overhead or client charged) and if use of “free” resources are encouraged. I also asked for comments.

Forty-two firm librarians responded. The majority provided insight as how their firms are dealing with this situation. Fourteen respondents have gone completely electronic. Eighteen have retained partial sets and ten continue to maintain full sets. An overall lack of space was the predominant response from those who have moved to partial sets or have gone completely electronic. A few firms commented that there was some initial resistance from older attorneys regarding the elimination of the hard copy. Several responses included comments indicating that few attorneys use the hard copy reporters.

The next set of questions revolved around cost recovery. Those who retained full sets rarely used WEXIS to obtain copies of decisions found within these reporters. Those who did, indicate that it was often when books were off the shelf and then those retrieval costs were charged directly to the client if appropriate. The majority of the firms that have retained partial sets, charge the client when using WEXIS to retrieve decisions. The complete opposite is true for those who have gone completely electronic. Most consider WEXIS retrieval costs as overhead. Many commented that due to flat rate contracts using WEXIS was a logic option. There were statements indicating that the cost of obtaining a case via WEXIS was less expensive than manually copying it. Obtain a case instantaneously for $6 -$10 versus the time/cost it takes to stand at a copier.

The relationship between hard copy retention and charging for copying is quite eye opening. Clearly, the majority of the firms who have gone electronic view the use of WEXIS as overhead. Few firms expounded on this decision, but it appears to be due to flat fee agreements, cost savings due to no hard copies, etc.

The final question of the survey pertained to using “free” sources when obtaining decisions. “Free” was correctly interpreted to mean a variety of sources ranging from court websites, to annual subscription type services, to PACER. A small percentage indicated that they encouraged the use of these types of sources. There was an even distribution of responses between relying on WEXIS for retrieval due to editorial enhancements and choosing a source based on attorney preference. Many firms indicated that they relied on “free” sources for current awareness, preliminary research or single case retrieval.

The survey provoked a variety of thoughts regarding the future of Federal Reporter and Federal Supplement retention. Space limitation was the primary reason for canceling the hard copy. The data collected will assist our law firm in making an educated decision regarding the future of our reporters. I hope this information will help your firm if you are facing the same situation. The overall statistics of the survey follow this summary. Please contact me if you have any further questions regarding the information provided.

Beverly G. Butula, Davis & Kuelthau, bbutula@dkattorneys.com

	Responses	Percent
Has your firm retained full sets of the Federal Reporter (2nd, 3d) and Federal Supps?
Full Set	10	24%
Partial Set	18	43%
Electronic	14	33%
If you have gone to partial retention, when obtaining a copy not available in hardcopy...
Charge Client	15	71%
Overhead	6	29%
	Several people who have full sets, responded here if they needed to go online for an electronic copy.
If you have gone completely electronic, when obtaining a copy of a case
Charge Client	4	29%
Overhead	10	71%
Do you try to obtain the cases via "free" sources
Encourage Free Sources	6	16%
Depends on Preference	16	42%
Use WEXIS Headnotes	16	42%
	Those who had full sets often did not answer this question, as not necessarily relevant

AALL Career Development Program, Private Law Librarians Asked for Input

As many of you know, AALL will convene an Education Summit at the end of September to establish a career development program for AALL. The Private Law Libraries Special Interest Section needs to hear from private law librarians about what they want to see in such a program. It will be extremely helpful if you took the time to answer the following questions:

1. When you hear "continuing education for librarians," what comes to mind?

2. What topics should be covered in such programs? Experienced librarians - what kinds of training and education do you wish had been available over the course of your career, and what do you need at this time? If you supervise a library staff, what do you wish was available for them?

Newer librarians - coming into the profession, do you perceive gaps in your library school education and personal experience that could be filled by AALL?

3. Who should play a role in identifying needs, developing content and delivering career development programs? Local chapters? Special interest sections? Committees? The AALL executive board? AALL staff? Outside parties? Others (please specify)?

Are there opportunities you can think of where AALL could partner with other organizations to provide career development?

4. What kinds of formats would work in these programs? Live presentations (possibly broadcast to remote locations)? Web seminars? E-courses, similar to what is offered by many library schools? Internships or a more formal mentoring program? Articles? Blogs? Other formats (please specify)?

5. What about the costs of such programs? Would your employer be willing to pay a registration or subscription fee? Should vendors be welcome to underwrite some programs? Would you be willing to "invest" personally in meaningful career development programs that could bring you greater job satisfaction and potentially, a higher income?

Thank you very much for participating in this dialogue

Christine Graesser
Legal Information Specialist
Brown Rudnick Berlack Israels
cgraesser@brownrudnick.com

Career Development - Input from Private Law Librarians Requested

As many of you know, AALL will convene an Education Summit at the end of September to establish a career development program for AALL.  The Private Law Libraries Special Interest Section needs to hear from private law librarians about what they want to see in such a program.  It will be extremely helpful if you took the time to answer the following questions:

1.  When you hear "continuing education for librarians," what comes to mind?

2.  What topics should be covered in such programs?  Experienced librarians - what kinds of training and education do you wish had been available over the course of your career, and what do you need at this time?    If you supervise a library staff, what do you wish was available for them?

Newer librarians - coming into the profession, do you perceive gaps in your library school education and personal experience that could be filled by AALL?

3.  Who should play a role in identifying needs, developing content and delivering career development programs?  Local chapters?  Special interest sections?  Committees?  The AALL executive board?  AALL staff?  Outside parties?  Others  (please specify)? Are there opportunities you can think of where AALL could partner with other organizations to provide career development?

4.  What kinds of formats would work in these programs?  Live presentations (possibly broadcast to remote locations)?  Web seminars?  E-courses, similar to what is offered by many library schools?  Internships or a more formal mentoring program?  Articles?  Blogs?  Other formats (please specify)?

5.  What about the costs of such programs?  Would your employer be willing to pay a registration or subscription fee?  Should vendors be welcome to underwrite some programs?  Would you be willing to "invest" personally in meaningful career development programs that could bring you greater job satisfaction and potentially, a higher income?

Christine Graesser
Legal Information Specialist
Brown Rudnick Berlack Israels
Cityplace I
Hartford, CT 06103

AmLaw Tech's Annual Survey of Law Firm Libraries

This year's AmLaw Tech's survey of law librarians is now available. It includes:

• Average salaries for top law librarians
• Average library expenses
• Librarian satisfaction with the major information providers
• Library staffing, resources, physical space, and finances of the libraries of the largest law firms

From the article highlighting the survey results:

Contrary to popular expectations, the digital age didn't supplant print. It complemented it. And it hasn't rendered librarians obsolete, either. In ALM's fourth annual survey of Am Law 200 librarians, 71 percent of respondents reported bigger budgets in 2005 than 2004, while 24 percent say their budgets are about the same. Spending on library staff salaries has risen to an average of almost $916,000 in 2004 (up from $783,000 in 2003). And despite recent accounts of university libraries eliminating books altogether, 75 percent of respondents report spending more on print products last year than in 2003.

The survey results also show that, increasingly, librarians are contributing to the bottom line. As partners and clients alike realize librarians often track down information more efficiently than associates and paralegals, more firms are billing for their research time. "There is an acknowledgment that it is much more cost-effective to have expert researchers," says Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr chief librarian Jean O'Grady. Therefore, most firms have boosted their hiring standards. It's not unusual to find librarians with advanced degrees in law, business, the physical sciences, and information technology, as well as library sciences. Even library paraprofessionals are expected to have a bachelor's degree from a top school, plus library or legal experience, says Ruth Carter Armstrong, director of information resources at Goodwin Procter.

As the caliber of the library staff has improved, the work they are being called on to do has become more sophisticated. Instead of shelving and minding card catalogs, librarians now spend more time doing advanced research -- often in support of the firm's marketing or information technology departments. Survey respondents report that their staffs spent 29 percent of their time in 2004 researching nonlegal information compared to 26 percent on legal research.

Law Firm Library Finances | Space | Staffing

Order Survey, $99.

Librarians are, by definition, the greatest research tools that any firm has.

See Large-Firm Life: An Ode to Librarians, New York Lawyer, April 8, 2005

Thanks to beSpecific for the tip.

Meet Michael French, Law Firm Librarian

Michael French was profiled in  the March 14, 2005 edition of Business First. Michael is the law librarian at Woodward, Hobson & Fulton LLP. The 55 attorney firm has offices in Lexington and Louisvile, KY. Michael splits his time between both offices.

Recovering Online Legal Research Costs

The ResourceShelf reports:

Thomson Legal & Regulatory has published a white paper on Cost Recovery for Online Legal Research (PDF; 15 pages). The paper applies primarily to large and medium size firms.

Here's the conclusion:

"As law firms work through the complex issues involved in the cost recovery for online research, it is recommended that they segregate the analysis into its component elements. In analyzing these issues, most firms will seek to be paid a reasonable fee for valuable services provided to their clients, such as modern forms of online research. As discussed in this paper, firms should seek to recover online expense through the direct disbursement method by charging each client for the cost of research conducted in their behalf. As stated in Opinion 93-379, a lawyer “may recoup expenses reasonably incurred in connection with the client’s matter” where the expense can be equitably allocated based on usage, such as “photocopying, long distance telephone calls, [and] computer research.” The direct disbursement approach is more equitable to the firm’s clients, but may require the law firm to undertake additional expense to administer the necessary client tracking procedures. As noted above, firms may wish to add a reasonable administrative charge, and they may seek to reduce such tracking costs through the implementation of automated cost recovery systems."