After hearing that legal research for a single matter can reach $75,000.00, if the researcher uses Westlaw with no regard to cost; I was astonished and had to ask in class why not just get an unlimited plan. I understand that $75,000.00 is the exception, not the rule. However, spending more on researching a single matter then the average family of 4 spends in a year is beyond belief. However, after thinking about it I realized that it would not benefit one of the larger law firms to get an unlimited plan. If we assume that a four attorney law firm can have access to Westlaw’s Illinois databases for $160.00 per month, the per attorney cost is $40.00 per month. However, a large law firm of 3,000 attorneys will most likely need access to all 50 states. Therefore, (using only a guesstimate)the cost of having access to all 50 states would be at the absolute minimum 10 times as much or $400.00 per attorney. So at $400.00 per month, for 3,000 attorneys, the annual Westlaw costs would come out to over $14,000,000. Now I am not sure if a law firm with 3,000 attorneys spends $14,000.00 a year on Westlaw, on a per transaction billing plan. However, I do know that if they are billed per transaction, they can easily pass the cost to the clients; but if they have an unlimited plan, it could not so easily be justified. Therefore, the law firm would have to pay the Westlaw bill out of their own funds rather then pass it on the clients.
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