With the new year in full swing, legal research providers will be looking for additional ways to achieve the double-digit growth of prior years. The recent Thomson Reuters controversy has signaled just how worried providers are about their bottom line — and how far they are willing to go to protect it. As such, law firms should be wary about potential rate increases.
What justifies an annual increase in legal research fees? The following list shows three of the more common reasons that providers offer to justify an increase and why you should be skeptical about their claims.
Debunking Common Justification for Legal Research Rate Hikes
- New services or products: Look over your legal research packages from the past 5-10 years. Take a look at the increases in rates, too. What new, valuable services or tools can you point to that would justify a rate increase?
- Investing in research or development of new products and services: Has your provider produced any relevant, valuable products or services in the last decade? WestlawNext and Lexis Advance came out more than a decade ago. What R+D has happened since that time that would explain paying more? They’d say, Westlaw Edge and Lexis+. I’d say, not so much.
- Cost of living adjustment: COLA is one of the more reasonable justifications for rate increases a provider might offer. However, it’s worth considering that these increases have occurred without fail even in the best of economies.
Legal research providers will counter with the claim that they have provided new offerings. They’ll point to revamped online packages or new print resources to counter concerns about price increases. Those should also be viewed with skepticism. For example:
- Not-so-new resources: “New” volumes of print resources that contain little new or beneficial information but add to the cost of your contract.
- Offering less options to “streamline” products: Providers have been retooling existing packages to consolidate products thereby giving you less options. These new bundles will have the products that you need but will also add in products that you’ll never use warranting a higher cost.
- Irrelevant “new” products: Your provider may have spent millions acquiring or developing a new product. It shouldn’t be a law firm’s responsibility to pay for it if it’s not applicable in their work.
The key to countering these hidden costs is to be vigilant when negotiating your legal research contract, especially since more law firms are not able to pass on the costs. Whether that means getting help from an outside contractor or navigating the process alone, a careful eye can save your firm a lot of money on legal research.
Review your past contracts and take a close look at the services you have used over the years. Read up on your provider’s products and services and take note if output of new products has been useful for your firm’s unique needs. It may take time, but the savings are typically worth the effort. Don’t let your provider’s bottom line determine the success of yours.
Legal Counsel Consulting has the resources to evaluate contracts to assure competitive pricing.
If there is any way I can help or if you would like to schedule a brief conversation, please feel free to contact me.