Fail-Safe Tips for Implementing a Legal Research Database

We are just about finished with the area of “administration,” one of the five areas that make up every business in the world.

You will be able to assess how well your firm and your practice are using the administrative systems. Hopefully, you will not be in the “Stone Ages,” but will be somewhere on the way to “On the Cutting Edge.”

This week’s topic is the strong suggestion that you have a legal research database for your law firm. You are probably asking , “why would I want to have a legal research database when I have access to Westlaw and Lexus-Nexis?” The answer is “it is time consuming and expensive to constantly be reinventing the wheel!”

A legal research database is as simple as simply saving the information off of your computerized search to an electronic database so that you can look up research you have already done by topic. Alternatively, you can print out a copy of what you have done and file it in a manual system by topic.

Remember, it is always important whenever doing such filing to try to file the keyword system that is utilized by West. I always try to use base word first followed by various modifiers. An example follows: Evidence - witness - expert - admissibility. I got a memo from a seminar I attended last weekend and I needed a place to put it so I could utilize the information at a later date. My choices were either to put it in a hard copy retrieval system or to put it into an electronic database. The only way to get it into an electronic database without re-keystroking the entire document was to have a scanner. I am still not convinced that text identification scanners work as well as you would like them to, and often times what you scan comes out to be a lot of garbage, that needs to be proofread with a fine tooth comb and additionally keystroked in order to be sure you have a full document. If you use a scanner for PDF and read it with Adobe Acrobat, some of these problems can be eliminated.

There is nothing more frustrating than having to go back and redo research projects that you have previously done. Clearly, you have to update the research once you retrieve it because it is probably now out of date from the time it was originally done and filed in your legal research database.

I think most lawyers simply try to remember what case it was they did their research in, and then go and try to find that file to resurrect and review their previous research. This attempt at trying to remember what case it was that you did the previous research in seems to be hit and miss at best. I have found in my own practice that the busier I get the more difficult it is to remember exactly where it was that I came across the particular research or law that I am depending upon on a day-to-day basis to give my clients good advice and to be able to negotiate good results for my clients. The utilization of a database with regard to this legal research makes your life a lot simpler.

I have been asked by a couple of people how many staff members it takes me to have all of this organizational structure in the “administration” area of my law firm. I have stated before that it is really a lot simpler than it sounds because once everyone gets in the habit of doing these various steps that I have pointed out in the area of “administration,” many of these things become rote and routine on a day-to-day basis and just happen as a matter of course.

In my office I have assigned one person to be the person in charge of updating the legal research database. Where possible, this should be another attorney and it becomes part of their “administrative” duties.

I don’t know any successful law firm where any lawyer can practice without having any “administrative” duties whatsoever. So many of the tasks that lawyers do need to be done by lawyers so that the systems run efficiently in the area of diagnosis, prognosis and prescription for treatment. My philosophy is that if a lawyer does not uniquely need to do the task, do not let the lawyer have anything to do with the task.

The utilization of the legal research database is just like any other “administrative” system in your office. I am reminded of the physical fitness phrase, “use it or lose it.” If you do not have some type of a system for your legal research storage, you will certainly lose it.

Last week I said the key to all of these “administrative” systems was organization. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is that you stay organized. Our world is full of sayings and proverbs about what happens to you if you are not organized. I have commented on draining the swamp, Murphy’s law, O’Toole’s observation and O’Connor’s comment, and various other such comments in my previous articles. My very strong statement here is “you cannot be over organized!” You may ask how I can make this statement.

The answer is simple, no matter how hard you try to be organized, the day-to-day ins and outs of your busy law practice will always create more discombobulation than you will be able to deal with. It is almost like there is some inextricable power force that creates disorganization and chaos. I am reminded of the phrase, “---- happens!” I don’t mean to be inappropriate or irreverent here, but there does not appear to be any other way to tell you that when things are left unorganized, they become even more unorganized

Suffice it to say that all you have to do is look at your own desk, your own firm, your own house, or for that matter, anything else that you try to maintain. If things are left unorganized, they simply become more unorganized. I am often reminded of a field that is left untended. The first thing you know, the grass gets so tall it cannot be mowed. The weeds begin to grow. The bushes and thickets proliferate. The saplings set in and eventually become trees. Before long the field has reverted to a totally natural state.

One could make the point that this “natural state” is one of being overgrown, untended, and hard to make your way through. If this sounds like your desk, your office or your law firm, imagine how your clients feel about trying to take their legal trip with you handling their legal matter. The key to a happier more efficient and profitable law firm is organization. Get organized, stay organized, handle your client’s legal matters in an organized fashion and you will prosper! A legal research database is just one small example about how organizing such materials help you get the job done in a better way.

Next week we are going to talk about how to put together an office manual.

I think you will see this innovative way of simply utilizing what you already do on a day-to-day basis will begin to put together an office manual that tells current employees and new employees how you handle things on a day-to-day basis. You will not want to miss this opportunity to put such an office manual in place in your firm.

Talk to you next week!

Jim Wirken is a civil trial attorney and the Chairman of the Board of The Wirken Law Group in Kansas City.