LexisNexis SmartIndexing Technology Terms Related to the Business of Law (April 8, 2009)
Librarian Relations Consultant Gayle Lynn-Nelson frequently receives questions on how to efficiently search news sources for the business of law related topics, such as The Am Law 100® firms, attorney fees, and billable hours. She is pleased to share that there are now several LexisNexis SmartIndexing Technology™ terms to help you track the latest news in legal practice.
LexisNexis SmartIndexing Technology terms are added to articles in all news sources available through the LexisNexis® services, including Factiva® sources such as The Wall Street Journal®. For complete details on LexisNexis SmartIndexing Technology coverage and use, visit the LexisNexis InfoPro Web site.
Now you can search using the LAW PRACTICE term to find news articles discussing law practice management, hiring, marketing, billing and office technology (excluding legal research.) Note that LAW PRACTICE is a group term, with broad subject coverage. LAW PRACTICE covers all six new terms below. Or you can try these new LexisNexis SmartIndexing Technology terms separately to home in on:
- ATTORNEYS' FEES—targets fees billed by attorneys as well as judicial decisions awarding costs of litigation to losing parties or imposing payment as a sanction for frivolous suits. The scope includes ancillary costs such as for paralegal work and policy discussions about fee caps and determining reasonable legal fees.
- LAW FIRM ASSOCIATE RETENTION—targets efforts made by law firms to keep associates—as well as the achieved results of such efforts.
- LAW FIRM ASSOCIATE SALARIES—targets wages and compensation paid by law firms to associate attorneys.
- LAW FIRM ATTORNEY RECRUITMENT—targets the hiring process for lawyers at law firms. The scope includes lateral hiring and summer clerkships as an avenue toward permanent employment.
- LAW FIRM BILLABLE HOURS—targets the number of hours billed by attorneys in a law firm, usually expressed as the number of hours per unit of time per year. The scope includes hours billed by paralegals, legal assistants and other professionals in law firms.
- LAW FIRM BILLABLE RATES—targets the hourly rates charged. The scope includes hourly charges of paralegals, legal assistants and other professionals in law firms.
In addition to law practice terms, there are also two new subject codes to help you refine your research on top law firms:
- National Law Journal 250 List—Use the code %ST0009Q8L% to target businesses on this list.
- The American Lawyer 100 List—Use the code %ST0009Q8K% to target businesses on this list.
How to Use the New LexisNexis SmartIndexing Technology Terms and Subject Codes
To monitor discussions on legal practice management, including hiring, marketing, billing and office technology:
SOURCE: Mega News, Most Recent 90 Days
SEARCH: TERMS(law practice)
Use the TERMS segment with LexisNexis SmartIndexing Technology terms. This search will find any mentions—a very broad search. That may be just what you need if you plan to set up a LexisNexis® Alert to monitor the subject on a weekly or monthly basis. To set up an Alert, after reviewing your search results, click the Save as Alert link (top middle of your results screen).
Or you can refine your search to major discussions of legal practice management by adding relevance scores to your search:
SEARCH: TERMS(law practice#85plus#)
This search can also be used for a LexisNexis Alert. It looks for articles with significant discussions on the subject.
Relevance scores are included in the new subject codes. For example, to find major discussions of firms in The AmLaw 100:
SOURCE: Mega News, Most Recent 90 Days
SEARCH: %st0009q8k%
Note: You do not need the TERMS segment with subject codes. And you can revise the code to find all mentions of The Am Law 100 businesses.
ENTER: #st0009q8k#
You can also combine the new terms and codes with other LexisNexis SmartIndexing Technology terms.
