How to Improve the Legal Research Quality in Your Firm

When an ordinary person thinks about what law firms do, research is not what they have in mind. And yet, legal research is integral in any legal practice. It’s necessary for litigation support, and strengthening a case. But, it’s not a core activity, so it’s often taken for granted.

So, how do you improve the research quality of your legal practice? And how can you do it without reducing focus on core operations? Well, we know a few ways.

Why does legal research matter?

Research is essential in the legal industry. Regardless of areas of practice, law firms and individual lawyers need this process.

The purpose of legal research is to gather relevant information about a legal issue. It involves gathering data from sources like legal encyclopedias, statutes, and legal documents. It covers case laws, patents, and administrative decisions, as well.

Basically, legal research is the foundation of legal decisions. Lawyers cannot give sound legal advice without it. And they won’t be able to build strong cases for their clients.

How can you do better legal research in your firm?

Since legal research is fundamental, it should always be in prime quality. But following the basic research strategies is not enough. You need to explore other tactics on how to get quality legal information. These tactics include:

Do not rely on free online resources

Free online resources are a great source for cost-saving research. But, you have to keep in mind that it can only help so much.

Free resources are prone to outdated and inaccurate data. Plus, most of them don’t have the tools and filters to help you find what you need.

Consider investing in online legal research software. Most of these softwares offer free trials. So you can effectively assess if it suits your needs, before you decide to pay for it.

Invest in a VPN

A virtual private network or VPN is an I.T. service that helps with Internet browsing. It keeps your identity and browsing activity anonymous. And prevents malicious entities from accessing your sensitive data.

A VPN can also help you access restricted data. Some web pages are hidden or censored, depending on your location. And these pages may contain vital information. With a VPN, you can browse the internet as if you’re in another country, and bypass regional restrictions.

Be open to all relevant cases

For a case to be helpful, it doesn’t need to have your desired outcome. You can make it an example of how the ruling should be different. So, do not limit yourself to cases with outcomes you want.

Also, use the cases you find to search for other relevant cases. Examine each case for other cases that it listed as an authority. And look up those cases to see if they can be helpful to you.

Start with the bigger picture before going to specifics 

Start researching the case by understanding of the subject from a broad perspective. This way, you can get a good grasp of the larger context. And you can easily search for different cases and data that fall within that context.

When you start with the specifics, you’d only find a few cases that are like yours. And, chances are, not all those are even helpful. By starting broad, you can gather more data without exhausting yourself early on.

Take the time for in-depth research

Sometimes, it can be tempting to rush through the research process. With deadlines nearing, it’s tempting to skip the task and opt for instant solutions. But, rushing decreases the quality of your research, and affects your case in court.

So, you should take all the time you need for legal research. You can only find everything that’s relevant to your case when you dig deep enough. And it also increases the likelihood of finding that gem you need to win your case.

Try legal research outsourcing

Legal process outsourcing (LPO) is always an option for law firms. Outsourcing legal research, in particular, can help improve your research quality. And your firm will also have the support needed to optimize your operations.

How does legal outsourcing improve your research quality?

Outsourcing legal work means hiring a third party to handle the specific task for your firm. In legal research outsourcing, the service provider gives you a dedicated research team. But, they will be working from the service provider’s premises.

This strategy improves your research quality by…

• Expanding your staff in an inexpensive way: LPO is a cost-effective staffing solution. You don’t need to spend on recruitment, training and onboarding to expand your workforce. No need to pay for mandatory employee premiums, and extra workspace and equipment.

• Granting access to expert solutions: your outsourced staff will already know the techniques for great legal research. They will also be using the best legal research solutions. So, you don’t have to pay for in-house training and tools (like paid resources, VPNs, etc.) anymore.

• Focusing on legal research: the outsourced team will have no other tasks. They will be dedicating their time to conducting in-depth research on any legal topic. And you don’t have to spend your own time, energy and resources on this process.

• Boosting your turnaround time: your outsourced team can produce results on-time. You no longer have to rush the research just to meet deadlines.

• Optimizing your core operations: the rest of your operations affects your legal research. When you outsource, you’ll be reducing the workload of your in-house staff. And you’ll be able to concentrate more on your core operations.

Magellan Solutions: a leading LPO company

Magellan Solutions is a BPO company that offers legal process outsourcing solutions. We have been in the industry for over 15 years now.

We provide legal services to lawyers, firms, and legal departments around the globe. And we are also recognized as one of the world’s leading LPO service providers.

The Magellan Solutions guarantee

With Magellan Solutions, you’ll get high quality services at flexible rates. And we also have the ISO-27001 certification, so we can guarantee the security of your data.

At Magellan Solutions, we only hire legal experts for our LPO team. We make sure that they have strong backgrounds and experience in the legal industry. And we regularly monitor and evaluate their performance, as well. This way, we can guarantee that our team’s service is at its best all the time.

Our company also aims to support firms of all sizes. So, we offer competitive and flexible rates that even small firms afford. And we do this without sacrificing the quality of our services.

Our LPO services

Aside from legal research, Magellan Solutions also offers the following LPO services:

• Legal transcription: we transcribe audio or audio/video recordings, interviews, and court hearings. The resulting transcript is already formatted for legal use. 
• Legal intake answering service: answering service for legal practices. With this service, your firm would receive and answer all incoming calls.
• Legal collection: efficiently collect bills from clients, without doing the collection yourself. No need to worry about missed payments anymore, as well.
• Legal appointment: receive calls and set appointments round the clock. Your firm will have a virtual receptionist who is available 24/7, even when your firm is closed.

Are you ready to experience our world-class LPO services? Get in touch with us today!