ResourceBlog Article: Inefficient Westlaw Searches Causes One National Firm to Hold Mandatory Training for Associates

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Sunday, 9th May 2010

Inefficient Westlaw Searches Causes One National Firm to Hold Mandatory Training for Associates

A memo (see snippet below) was sent out to all associates at one national firm last week mandating any associate that "utilizes or intends to utilize Westlaw" to attend a training session to learn the firm's "Best Practices". I'm actually glad to see that a firm has stepped up and created a "Best Practices" manual for using resources like Westlaw, and is using the professional staff in the library to do the training (rather than having the Westlaw rep come in and do it for them.)

Training is "supposed" to be an ongoing event for the firm, especially on a product like Westlaw that can be one of the biggest expenses for the firm. But, let's be honest... how many associates attend the weekly or monthly training sessions held in the library? Probably very few. What firms are left with then are self-taught associates that probably do not understand the difference between an in-contract search versus an out-of-contract search... or how cost recovery even works. I'm sure many of us have heard someone ask "it's all in our Westlaw contract, right? Therefore it doesn't cost the firm for me to use it, right?" And then watch their eyes glaze over when you explain what each search costs the firm, and how the firm eats the costs of their searches that are not billable to a client.

Source: 3 Geeks and a Law Blog

Hat tip: The Mighell Marker

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