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Written by Donna Fryer

Legal research often conjures up images of assistants scurrying to find case law, related statutes, regulations to prove an argument, or an attorney receiving a message on their Blackberryä in the courtroom with the necessary information to win the case. Yet legal research encompasses so much more.

According to Cornell University's Law School, one of the most prominent law schools in the United States, legal research is defined as that tool which allows the court ‘to find "authority" that will aid in finding a solution to a legal problem'. What is this authority, exactly?

Primary Authority are the rules of law and are binding upon the courts, government, and individuals. Examples are statutes, regulations, court orders, and court decisions. Long ago, before the information age hit the

Internet, only publishers such as LexisNexis and Westlaw, the good ol' steadfast law books that attorneys kept in their in-house libraries, were the sources one could use to find the majority of this Authority. All of this is changing rapidly.

LexisNexis and Westlaw are still great services and they often carry exclusive publications one can only access through their particular

systems such as their CD ROMs or Internet subscription services. They are most useful to researchers as they incorporate valuable added information to court cases, such as West Headnotes. But if the budget is tight or a smaller firm can't justify the expense, there are alternatives.

Let's explore the types of research that law firms need, where they might access the information, and what other types of information law firms can use to stay competitive.


Monitoring open cases

First, let's start with the types of research lawyers need. Many times firms

need to find current, open federal, state or local cases and monitor them as they go forward. To do this, they will likely need to see the court calendar. Additionally, there may be pleadings or filings that need to be retrieved. When these documents are not available electronically they may choose to hire a document retrieval specialist, often times called "runners".

Many documents, especially those related to ‘hot' cases, can be found electronically through systems like PACER or Attorney General Web sites. Research on hot cases might also include searching news Web sites or subscription databases for press releases, or using software, such as "Watch That Page," to monitor Web sites that are discussing certain dockets.

More harrowing might be tracking pending state or federal legislation, researching legislative history, or looking at the Congressional Record.

These are more complex research tasks and you may consider engaging a fee-based service or a dedicated legislative tracking service.


Locating an expert opinion

Experts are another hot resource for legal researchers. However, be cautious when engaging an expert for legal research as industry insiders sometimes refer to these ‘experts' as ‘sexperts' because many choose to prostitute themselves out for money instead of integrity and knowledge. However, a few bad apples have not spoiled the whole bunch. Certainly there are experts who are not motivated to provide expert testimony because of the money, and they can contribute much value to a case by way of their expertise.

Finding experts and checking into their background is imperative as you head into a case. It is not enough to just ‘Google' an expert or use social networks such as LinkedIn, FaceBook, and others to locate them. When you identify a potential expert, do not cut corners. Check out their credentials and references thoroughly. You should search discussion groups such as Yahoo! Groups and Google Groups to find and view their professional history, alma mater Web sites, dockets, press articles, professional writings, public records, historical records, SEC documents, archived web sites, fee-based services. You may even try the ‘excluded party list system' which is a government-maintained site that provides information on companies as well as individuals that are excluded from receiving federal contracts and federal financial assistance.

Additionally, you might use a tracking service that tracks experts' testimonies and case outcome. Conducting thorough research to find an expert and to then check their history is vitally important to success.


Conducting business information research

Now, let's step outside legal research and take a look at the business side of research. Gathering business information related to legal cases can aid legal strategy, but firms can also use this type of research to keep themselves and/or their clients competitive. Law firms looking for new engagements often stay in touch with trends. They track bankruptcy filings, merger and acquisition activity, or other activity that changes with the marketplace. Demographics represent an important piece of data as it relates to areas of growth by geographic location.

Additionally, law firms can use research for recruiting purposes, business development, expansion, and numerous other management decisions. There are many studies and articles that offer data on law firm revenue, attorney compensation, diversity, culture, and management issues. This data can be found in legal publications, purchased through Web sites or research companies that specialise in collecting large quantities of data on law firms.

You can never have too much information when it comes to competing in the current legal market. For example, there is new software that surveys and analyses the internal culture of a law firm, aggregates the data by metropolitan areas, and presents an anonymous snap shot of how the internal firm wide cultures compare to one another. Although it is still in its early phase, this software, Culture X-ray, presents yet another dimension to the call for more business intelligence for law firms.

Any smart legal or business development strategy needs to take into account the business information associated with the client or prospective client's industry, location, competition, and operations. This type of information is often publicly available and can be used to ascertain the client's challenges or obstacles. Once the business picture is complete, the law firm or lawyer can craft a winning strategy for a legal transaction or law suit or be in a better position to present a winning proposal.


Staying on top of changes in the law

Sometimes changes in legislation, regulations, or legal rules can invoke significant opportunity in the legal field. In December 2006, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were changed through the addition of rules related to electronic discovery in legal cases. While the legal industry was trying to wrap their arms around these changes, there was a flurry of research regarding every aspect of e-discovery in the marketplace. Law firms can leverage this research for their education as well as share it with clients to help them avoid risk.

Identifying legal trends to stay ahead of the competition is also important. The advent of easy access to an enormous amount of information on the Web creates a need to have a solid understanding of technology, privacy rights, and intellectual property. Not only do you need this information, but you can also add value to your client relationships by passing it along to them. For instance, just like the business sector, international outsourcing or offshoring has become a growing trend among law firms. Firms should constantly track these trends to see how they can benefit as well as guard themselves from any direct negative impacts, and observe what their competition is doing.


Performing competitive analysis

Observing and tracking what competitors are doing is a long-standing aspect of corporate strategy. For law firms, gathering competitive intelligence in the legal marketplace is just beginning to take on a substantial role. As law firms struggle to increase their market share and their share of the client's wallet, appreciation for cross selling their services across practice areas has grown.

A law firm may have a client in the intellectual property area of their practice, but that particular client might use another firm for their contracts. This information, traditionally gathered informally in situations like after-dinner drinks, can now be easily found using sophisticated methods and products such as West's Litigation Monitor, Lexis atVantage, or ALM's Research Online. These products rely on public information to graph litigation activity that allows law firms to see what engagements and in which practice area your competition is getting action.

So, if one were to apply Cornell University's Law School's definition of legal research to all research - business, competitive, and legal, it might read: "Research is that tool which allows anyone ‘to find "authority" that will aid in finding solutions'. Today, savvy law firms are not only using research to find the legal authority to win cases, they are also using it to monitor events inside and outside of their industry by using multiple resources and technology to help compete in a shrinking world.

Donna Fryer has worked in the information research industry for the past 18 years assisting the corporate, legal, private investigator industries, and small to medium size business with their research needs. Donna has spoken on a multitude of topics including Competitive Intelligence research, research on the Internet, and technology issues, and has developed and taught continuing legal education classes for attorneys and paralegals across the country. She currently trains targeted research methods to businesses and the legal market for more effective research and to help them overcome information overload. She can be reached at dfryer@searchitright.com.

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