Cost Effective Research on WestlawNext Thomson Reuters Westlaw Instructional Aid Series

Cost Effective Research on WestlawNextThomson Reuters Westlaw Instructional Aid Series

CONTENT

Introduction

WestlawNext New Pricing

Transactional Pricing

Hourly Pricing

Choosing the Best Pricing Option for Searching

Other Cost-Effective Services

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WestlawNext – The Difference

WestlawNext is the next evolution in legal research and it will help you to be more efficient in producing strong work product through relevant results.

• With this evolution, there is an accompanying pricing model that is easy to understand

• Great steps were taken to redefine what is considered a chargeable event

• Pricing is tied to the documents you use to resolve your issue rather than the number of searches you run

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WestlawNext – Important to Know

Keep in mind that subscription plans vary widely and are highly customizable to meet firms’ needs

• Majority of WestlawNext customers have plans that include the content they use most often

• Any prices shown hereafter reflect costs as if not included in your plan*

• Costs may vary based on your subscription and for specific sources

* Prices subject to change at any time

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CONTENT

Introduction



Hourly Pricing



5

WestlawNext—New Pricing

WestlawNext has two different options for pricing:

• Transactional Pricing: charges incurred by transaction

• Hourly Pricing: charges incurred by the minute

Depending upon the type of research you are doing one option may be more cost-effective than the other

You may change your pricing option depending upon the type of research you are doing to ensure that you are conducting the most cost effective research

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Changing Your Pricing Preference

Select ‘Preferences’ from the bottom left side of the screen. The Preferences screen will display. Select the Billing Tab to change your settings. Once you have selected your preference click ‘Save Changes’ from the bottom of the screen. You must sign off for changes to take place. 7

CONTENT

Introduction



Hourly Pricing



8

WestlawNext – Transactional Pricing

• Generally, there are three broad categories of chargeable events on WestlawNext:– Searching for Documents (global search, cost recovery)

– Reviewing Documents (charged per document view, KeyCite)

– Document Delivery (print, email, download, etc.)

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WestlawNext – Transactional Events

• Searching for Documents– Your firm’s monthly rate covers searching for documents

both within and outside your plan’s content

– For cost recovery only, the use of the global search box across the core content carries an “included” charge of $60* for all searches• Global searching removes the need for individual searches

across all content sets as a single search covers 13 content sets

• Our new search engine, WestSearch, heightens your efficiency by automating the processes of expert researchers. Not only do you save time, but searching across everything is more cost efficient

10 *Pricing current through Sept 2011


• Reviewing Documents– In the result list, the number of results returned for each

content set is seen on the left side of the screen

– Once you select a content set, you will see highlighting to indicate where your terms are located within the document, and the potential usefulness of the document

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• Reviewing Documents– In each content set there are filters

available that are specifically tailored for that content which allow you to narrow your results like never before.

– If a filter is applied, your results will be reduced to those documents matching your criteria.

– You can filter a result list as many times as you like as there is no charge for the use of any filters.

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• Reviewing Documents– When you find a document that is helpful, you can click into

it to view the full text.

– Clicking open the document incurs a transactional document view charge. Transactional prices vary depending on the type of document.

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WestlawNext – Transactional Events• Reviewing Documents

– Efficiency tools include purple highlighting, eyeglasses, and download icons that appear near documents in your result list.

– Easily see what documents you have:• Added notations/highlighting

• Viewed in the last 30 days and/or

• Saved to a folder

– These tools help you understand where you are in your research, saving you time and money by showing your interactions with the documents so as to avoid duplicating your research.

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WestlawNext—Transactional Events

There is no charge for the following in transactional pricing:

• Using the Filters or ‘Search Within’ feature

• Using “Search this document” feature

• Adding annotations to a document

• Browsing a Content Page

• Browsing a Table of Contents, KeyNumber Digest, or Secondary Source Index

• Viewing the Scope screen for a Content Page

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Table of Contents

Index

Key Number System

Scope

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KeyCite

• Each citation checked in KeyCite incurs a charge of $7.00*

• KeyCite charges may be included based upon your WestlawNext subscription plan

*Pricing current through September 2011

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• Delivery of Documents– On WestlawNext, your delivery options include print, email,

download, kindle, export to Case Notebook or save to a folder.

– Like on Westlaw.com, your pricing options for documents include billing by line or by document.• The charges incurred for delivery of documents included within

your plan will appear, for cost recovery purposes, as “included charges.”

• You can change your pricing option within Preferences, as previously discussed.

• Which option is more cost effective depends on the size of your document.

– Prices vary depending on the type of document.

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• Delivery of Documents– Printing, emailing or downloading a document from a folder

carries the same charge as those formats from a document.

– Documents that are saved to a folder remain in the folder until deleted.

– Documents that have been viewed and saved to a folder are accessible without charge for one year from the date added to the folder.

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CONTENT

Introduction



Hourly Pricing



20

WestlawNext – Hourly Events

• Browsing charges– There are no search charges in hourly (per minute) billing.

Instead hourly billing includes browsing charges.

– Browsing charges are included in all WestlawNext subscriptions.

– There are two browsing hourly rates• Home Rate: For cost recovery purposes, browsing the home

page or content category pages, the included charge will show as $5* per minute.

• Result List Rate: When browsing a search result list, the cost recovery included charge will show as $10* per minute.

*Pricing current through September 2011.

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WestlawNext – Hourly Events

• Document View, KeyCite & Communication Charges– Communication charges of $0.22/minute* apply from sign-on

until you log-off.

– When you click open a document, a new hourly rate will be charged. Each content type has a different per minute charge when viewing a document .

– Each citation checked in KeyCite incurs a $10 per minute billing rate.• KeyCite charges may be included based on your WestlawNext

subscription plan.

*Pricing current through September 2011

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CONTENT

Introduction



Hourly Pricing



23

WestlawNext – Transactional v. Hourly

When to use Transactional:

• If you plan to spend most of your time researching online doing the following:– Reviewing, highlighting and annotating documents

– Applying & adjusting filters to tailor results

– Navigating through multiple content sets from a smaller number of searches

– Sharing & reviewing documents with colleagues through shared folders

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WestlawNext – Transactional v. Hourly

When to use Hourly:

• If you plan to quickly use WestlawNext to accomplish a task including:– Obtain a document for which you know the citation.

– Check for the availability & coverage of a particular content set.

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CONTENT

Introduction



Hourly Pricing



26

WestlawNext – Folders & History

• Folders– Only available in transactional billing.

– If you save a document to a folder while in hourly, you will incur a transactional viewing charge when you come back to that document.

– Billing is suspended while viewing folders page.

• History– History is saved for one year

– If you view a document but do not move it to a folder, you can access it without charge until 2am CST the following day.

– Hourly billing is not suspended on the History page. Home Rate charges will apply.

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Cost Effective Research on WestlawNext Resources

• Subscriber Pricing Guide (for commercial plans)– Located on the WestlawNext home

page under Tools

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• For specific plan costs, please contact your dedicated Customer Service Representative

• For research assistance, contact the Reference Attorneys 24 hours/day, 365 days/year– 1.800.REF.ATTY (733-2889)

– Email Support: Reference Attorneys

mailto:[email protected]