JUST ASK: The Rules of Research for New Associates
As fall associates settle into the reality of legal practice, I am taking the opportunity to share a variety of research “best practices.” These
rules can be applied across all environments: law firm, corporate, public service and government. New associates are facing the messy reality of needing to harness legal and factual issues that need
Casetext ROI Study Finds Compose Makes Brief Drafting 76% Faster Saved Participants 5.2 hours Per Brief
Casetext has released a study examining the efficiencies delivered by its new motion drafting platform Compose. Compose was announced this year at Legal Tech in New York. The product which I reviewed back in February enables 
a lawyer to select a motion types in specific jurisdictions, add arguments from a menu for the jurisdiction, select
Hits & Misses Part Two Top Cancellation Candidates: Lexis, Westlaw, Bloomberg Spending Under Scrutiny
The Hits and Misses Survey was conducted in the pre-pandemic world. Nonetheless the results will have a special resonance with Information professionals around the world perched at home scrutinizing their budgets with scalpel in 
one hand and an ax in the other. Back in January Dewey B Strategic readers were asked to the identify the
New Covid-19 Resources From Fastcase, PacerPro, Tax Notes and PubK Law. Free Covid Resources From Westlaw and Bloomberg Law
It will come as no surprise that the roster of legal publishing and tech innovator offerings of Covid-19 resources continues to grow. Fastcase, PacerPro, PubK Law and Tax Notes have new Covid-19 resources.Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg Law mentioned in an earlier post now have added free resources which out from behind the paywall.Well Fastcase has gone “Amazon” – they have basically built a Covid-19 Shopping Mall which includes a gallery of their own resources, affiliates resources, government resources and competitors resources – all for a good cause!
Bloomberg Law has brought their very popular In Focus Covid-19 page out from behind the paywall. There are 3 “trackers ” which provide a survey of court operations during Covid-19, state quarantine and public health laws and Covid-19 related labor laws.The page also provides, news, analysis, regulatory guidance e.g .reporting Covid issues to the SEC. According to Bloomberg Law President Joe Breda “We are committed to continuing to add to this collection, and possibly other features of BLAW in the future.” There also a Bloomberg Law Corona Virus news page That offers great deal of public content as well as a free newsletter.
Fastcase Covid-19 “Mall of American Resources”
Covid Resources “Gallery” Fastcase COO, Steve Errick sent me an email about Fastcase’s Covid-19 efforts. ”We are supporting our bar members by providing them a list of resources including noting where our publishing peers provide
Continue Reading New Covid-19 Resources From Fastcase, PacerPro, Tax Notes and PubK Law. Free Covid Resources From Westlaw and Bloomberg Law
AI in Legal Research – Does Casetext’s “Document As Query” Search Improve Efficiency and Results?
Today Casetext released a study it commissioned which by attorneys at the National Legal Research Group Inc.Study is titled “The Real Impact of Using Artificial Intelligence in Legal Research.” But is that really what the study is measuring? I think not. While some of the conclusions may be valid – I have a
ALM Releases Report on Artificial Intelligence in Law Firms: Where is Your Firm on the AI Adoption Spectrum
American Lawyer Media just released a new report which highlights the importance of AI in providing firms with the opportunity for market advantage. The re
port which is entitled Law Firms Need Intelligence to Stay in the game.” provides a general overview of AI in law. The report costs $299 and can be ordered
ALM Releases 2018 Survey on Library and Knowledge Professionals: Intelligence, Analytics and AI Dominate
ALM Legal Intelligence has released the 2018 Survey of Law Firm Knowledge Management, Library and Research Professionals.
It appears that most of the largest firms opted out of this survey or missed the deadline to participate. The median law firm size of participating firms was down from 500 attorneys in 2017 to 376 in 2018
CARA AI: Did Casetext Just “Drop Kick” Keywords Out of the Legal Research Process?
Today Casetext is launching CARA AI which offers significant changes to both the CARA and Casetext research experience. Today CARA is being transformed from a citation analysis tool into a full fledged legal research engine.
I had a chance to talk to Casetext co-founders Jake Heller and Pablo Arredondo about the launch . Heller, the CEO of Casetext describes these enhancements as “helping attorneys at any phase of their research find better authorities faster.” Arredondo, who is the Chief Legal Research Officer described CARA AI as offering a solution like Google, Apple and Amazon Prime — “CARA AI gives you only what you need.”
Key features include:
- Seamless integration of CARA AI contextual search into the traditional research workflow.
- The ability to execute searches by loading briefs, motions, complaints and answers.
- An enhanced user interface, upgraded algorithm and increased speed.
Speed The press release states that these enhancements make Casetext the “fastest research platform.” They did not provide any data to back this statement up, but the demo I saw showed the new platform delivering near immediate search results and document retrievals. I have to agree –CARA AI is lightening fast.
Continue Reading CARA AI: Did Casetext Just “Drop Kick” Keywords Out of the Legal Research Process?
Your Workflow Product Costs Half a Million Dollars — Now How Do I Measure My ROI? Where is the Quickview and PowerInvoice for Practical Law and Lexis Practice Advisor?
For years I have been heaping praise on Thomson Reuters for producing one of the first marketing pieces that took a 
crack at quantifying the time savings delivered by one of their workflow products. The chart offers a simple comparison of several tasks and shows the time it takes to perform each task and with and without the use of the Practical Law Resources. See Illustration below.
It is probably five years since I saw that first chart and I recently began investigating whether Thomson Reuters has moved from producing a marketing piece to delivering a real tool that could actually help a customer determine or even estimate the time savings or efficiency delivered by Practical Law. I am picking on Thomson Reuters but the truth is that none of the large legal information publishers ( LexisNexis, Wolters Kluwer or Bloomberg Law) which have enhanced their research products with workflow solutions are offering any resource to measuring the ROI of their products. For
Continue Reading Your Workflow Product Costs Half a Million Dollars — Now How Do I Measure My ROI? Where is the Quickview and PowerInvoice for Practical Law and Lexis Practice Advisor?