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InfoPro Home > Professional Development > Monthly Column
Who Has Spare Change Anymore?
Cost Recovery of Online Research
(January 2003)
By Julie Webster-Matthews, Librarian Relations Consultant
What exactly is spare change? Is it money you can afford to throw away? Is it those few coins not worth picking up? Or is it money that you are not allowing to work for you? With the current state of the economy, the focus for businesses in 2003 will be on the infamous "bottom line" -- which means "spare change" has renewed value.
The ability to recover online research costs has, historically, been a source of frustration for law firms. Unbilled online research charges can add up to significant amounts of revenue if recovered. Recognizing this, LexisNexis is committed to helping firms effectively manage their online research costs with an arsenal of cost recovery tools, LexisNexis Client Validator, PowerInvoice, Mandatory Client ID, and Client Masking.
The economics of the recovery of online research costs is an issue important to librarians for the following reasons:
- Online research is often perceived as high cost to the firm.
- Online research is thought of as a cost center.
- Online research is part of the library budget, and therefore the library is viewed as a cost center.
Law firms can positively affect their bottom line by addressing cost recovery issues due to invalid, missing or inaccurate client matter identification associated with LexisNexis online research sessions. Some of the internal issues that prevent law firms from recovering online research costs are:
- Attorneys do not have clear understanding of costs and charges
- Lack of predictability
- High nonbillable charges
- No clear billing policy articulated
For issues such as these, the LexisNexis® Client Validator offers a powerful solution.
LexisNexis Client Validator
LexisNexis Client Validator is a software product installed on a law firm's network that interfaces with the firm's billing system to identify all valid client matters. It creates a fully automated solution for associating online research costs to specific client matters. Client Validator utilizes a validation/look-up box that:
- Pulls client matter numbers directly from the firm's billing system table, presenting your firm's most current client name/number/matter listings to the user.
- Ensures accuracy in matching both billable and non-billable online research to clients.
- Serves as an easy "look-up" tool when the user does not know the client matter name/number.
- Ensures valid client identification numbers for every research session, eliminating hours of guesswork as you bill your clients for online legal research.
- Manages a firm's non-billable activity by providing legitimate non-billable client matters.
LexisNexis Client Validator allows the user to look up a client by entering either search text or a client number. The user is then presented with a list of all open matters for that client only. The user does not need to know the exact client matter. However, if the user does enter the exact valid client matter, the user is taken directly to a research session.
In addition to internal issues that may affect the rate of cost recovery, client issues can also influence whether online research charges are presented to the firm's client. In many instances, clients:
- Expect a lower bill
- Don't want to pay for associate learning curve
- Don't expect or appreciate the result
- Are surprised by the charges
For these types of issues, LexisNexis PowerInvoice can help the firm with the presentation of online research costs to the client.
LexisNexis PowerInvoice
Unlike the LexisNexis Client Validator, PowerInvoice has been available to LexisNexis subscribers for some time. PowerInvoice, a secure, browser-based service, gives the firm's librarian and/or billing agent current, comprehensive billing data and electronic invoice images on their desktops. It covers activity as recent as 24-48 hours and back to 6 months. PowerInvoice has recently been enhanced to further assist in recovery of online research charges as effectively as possible.
The ability to "rename" services is one of the new PowerInvoice enhanced features. The firm now has the ability to rename any/all of the service components that make up the invoice, for example: rename Nexis --> Due Diligence; rename Lexis --> Primary Law. This enables the firm to use/define "labels" that are more meaningful to their clients, thus avoiding client push-back on research charges.
PowerInvoice has also been enhanced with the ability to set a per search rate for each/any of the LexisNexis service components that make up the invoice. This is a huge benefit to cost recovery because it:
- Gives the firm complete control over which invoice components they want to adjust, as well as what price point they want to use.
- Enables the firm to set price points that are more in line with their clients' expectations.
- Enables the firm to set predictable price points that are easier for end-users to understand and easier to communicate to clients.
- Eliminates the "fear factor" from the cost of legal research.
PowerInvoice also now allows the firm to apply a percentage to any of the LexisNexis service components that make up the invoice, thereby giving the firm complete control over which invoice service components they want to adjust. This feature enables the firm to mark up or mark down net or gross charges and allows the firm to set price points that are more in line with their clients' expectations. Again, a feature that contributes to eliminating the "fear factor" many clients associate with the cost of legal research.
There is no charge for the PowerInvoice service.
Other LexisNexis Cost Recovery Tools
Two additional cost recovery tools that have been used extensively by LexisNexis subscribers are:
Mandatory Client Screen -- requires that users input a client/matter number before being allowed to proceed to conduct online research
Client Masking -- requires not only that users input a client/matter number, but
demands that the identification be in a designated format as prescribed by the firm, i.e., 5 alpha characters followed by 4 numeric characters.
These services are a first step towards improving the recovery rate of online research charges. There is no charge for these services, and implementation is simple.
Law firms have their attention focused on ways to run their businesses more efficiently. Writing off online research costs is not profitable. What used to be considered "spare change" is now perceived as lost revenue.
Consider how LexisNexis Client Validator, PowerInvoice, Mandatory Client Screen or Client Masking can help change the perception of the library as a cost center by increasing the recovery rate of online research costs in your firm. Your LexisNexis Librarian Relations Consultant or your local LexisNexis Representive will be happy to give you a demonstration or answer your questions about these powerful cost recovery tools.
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