Can I Get A Hallelujah For Law 2.0? On-Demand Library And Research Services Have Me Singing

If Law 2.0 means the next evolution of the way we practice law, then AccuDesk is a step in the right direction.

A few weeks ago, I discovered a gem — AccuDesk from AccuFile. Law 2.0 means practicing differently. We need outsourced resources at our fingertips and this one is a huge find for me, so I wanted to share it in the hopes that it makes your life just a little bit easier.

At my firm, we often have needs for research and information for business development and we don’t have access to the tools to get it, or the time to get it ourselves. We don’t have our own law librarian, but now we have something even better — a team of law librarians with all of those resources at their fingertips in AccuDesk.

You may not think this is exciting at first, but think about it — what if you had an experienced legal professional who could think creatively to solve a problem when all you can think about is the impending deadline?  And all you have to do is submit a request online and get an answer?

AccuFile as a company provides law librarians on demand — to staff your office, be a regular resource for a firm, or help you provide competitive intelligence. In what I consider to be a genius move, AccuFile introduced AccuDesk. With AccuDesk, you can submit on-demand requests without having a full on contract with the company.  You simply go to the site, input your request, and the work begins. If you are a new client, they’ll reach out to establish contact and ensure they know what you need, then get to work.

The service is available for anyone and is very affordable. AccuDesk charges $130 per hour plus any costs they incur to locate information, and you can tell them in your request how much time you want them to spend, and get an understanding of costs up front.

The key is to make sure your request tells the librarian what you really need to know. According to attorney Katherine Coolidge, Manager Research Solutions for AccuFile, “Your research is only as good as how much information you provide in your request. Precision ensures efficiency in delivering a response.”

Here’s an example:  A lawyer needed to know the heirs of a client who had died. Instead of asking about information on the heirs, he submitted a request for the client’s obituary from the local newspaper where the client lived. AccuDesk researched and found the obituary but it took more time, and the AD Researcher could have checked census records or other areas to find the information faster if he or she had the actual needs vs. what the attorney decided was the best approach.

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On the other hand, according to Kathy, sometimes holding back facts allows the librarian to remain objective so the results are not skewed to a specific outcome. In a situation where human nature may cause someone to want to find one answer (i.e., where custody of a child is involved), a lawyer keeping certain facts out of the request removes that component.

So, who are the librarians staffing AccuDesk?  Their team of 20 professionals includes law librarians who have staffed and run many Am Law 100 law firms’ libraries and information desks — they are extremely experienced and knowledgeable legal professionals who know how to find things fast. Kathy told me that when a request comes in, the receiving librarian identifies the best person to handle it based on the individual librarian’s specializations — think medical, bankruptcy, etc.  It took me one conversation with Kathy and Nick Ypsilantis, the President and CEO of AccuFile, to know I wanted them on my team.

What kind of things can they help with? Here’s a quick list of tasks that AccuDesk can do for you:

  • Pull together reports of client activity for client pitches
  • Conduct legal research on any issue
  • Track down newspaper and law review articles
  • Check cites
  • Conduct 50 state surveys of statutes and regulations
  • Find reports
  • People searches
  • Research legislative history

AccuDesk has access to a variety of subscriptions to draw from as well including Lexis, CourtLink, and Hoovers and is continuously evaluating new tools for use by AccuDesk.

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If Law 2.0 means the next evolution of the way we practice law, then AccuDesk is a step in the right direction. No longer do we need large law firms with everything under one roof — we can provide the same valuable service to our clients without all that overhead by being smart and finding resources to help.


Kelly TwiggerKelly Twigger gave up the golden handcuffs of her Biglaw partnership to start ESI Attorneys, an eDiscovery and information law Firm, in 2009. She is passionate about teaching lawyers and legal professionals how to think about and use ESI to win, and does so regularly for her clients. The Wisconsin State Bar named Kelly a Legal Innovator in 2014 for her development of eDiscovery Assistant— an online research and eDiscovery playbook for lawyers and legal professionals. When she’s not thinking, writing or talking about ESI, Kelly is wandering in the mountains of Colorado, or watching Kentucky basketball. You can reach her by email at Kelly@ediscoveryassistant.com or on Twitter: @kellytwigger.

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