Cost Saving Tips from Law Firm Librarians

Recently, I had the pleasure of doing a guest lecture for Professor Niedringhaus’s Advanced Legal Research Class. Check out my PowerPoint on cost effective legal research.

Additionally, two local law firm librarians shared their insights on cost effective research. Here are some of their tips:

• Consult your librarian, a partner or a senior associate to find out the terms of your Westlaw or Lexis plan and to see what databases are outside of your plan.
• Start with print sources before going online. Ask the librarian or an attorney who specializes in the area you are researching to recommend major treatises.
• Use reliable free or low cost Internet sources.GPO Access/FDsys and PACER were two of the favorites mentioned.

PACER, the federal court docket, can be used to find whether a person or company has been involved in litigation, has filed for bankruptcy or has a federal criminal conviction. It is also a great source for sample pleadings and motions, as the full text of the documents filed in many cases can be retrieved. It is low-cost, at eight cents a page.

Opinions are free on PACER, and you can avoid the cost of pulling the docket by using FreeCourtDockets.com, if you know the case number. For cases 2004 and later, you can find a case number for free by searching by party name on Justia dockets. See our prior post Free Federal Dockets.