Cost Recovery : The Basics
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The document summarizes a webinar on cost recovery basics. It discusses trends in cost recovery like more firms charging for online research costs. It covers budgeting costs and expected recovery. Electronic resource management tools help track usage and costs. Vendor tools assist with invoices and reports to track recovery against expenses. Regular reporting is important to monitor progress and exceptions. Communication with firm leaders is necessary to discuss recovery efforts.
Cost Recovery : The Basics
- 1. Cost Recovery: The Basics A NPCI Webinar February 12, 2009
- 2. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Todays Speaker Nina Platt Principal Consultant Nina Platt Consulting, Inc.
- 3. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Agenda Trends in Cost Recovery Budget Electronic Resource Management (ERM) Tools Disbursement Management Tracking Progress Communicating to Firm Leaders
- 4. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Trends in Cost Recovery Movement towards not charging clients vs. Firm decision to continue charging
- 5. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Current Trends in Cost Recovery AmLaw 2008 Survey Recovery of online research costs increasing
- 6. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Current Trends in Cost Recovery AmLaw 2008 Survey 3% of firms do not recover online costs
- 7. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Trends in Cost Recovery ABA Survey % of Lawyers Who Don't Know How Their Firm Recovers Online Research Expenses 0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00% 30.00% 35.00% 40.00% 45.00% Solo 2-9 lawyers 10-49 lawyers 50-99 lawyers 100+ lawyers Size of firm 39.7% 35% 21.4% 5.2% 2.1%
- 8. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Trends in Cost Recovery Expert Interviews No significant change in the near term Movement to not charge for online services over time (10-20 years)
- 9. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Trends in Cost Recovery The Value of Online Research What contributes to the devaluing of information? Lawyers arent taught to value research in law school Lawyers want to be seen as experts who have the answer A whole lot of waffling on the decision to charge clients
- 10. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Trends in Cost Recovery The Value of Online Research What contributes to the devaluing of information? Law firms dont communicate openly with clients about the value Clients have no trust in how the research is being invoiced Clients wont pay for services they dont value and invoices they dont trust
- 11. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Trends in Cost Recovery The Value of Online Research How can lawyer behavior be changed? Discussions with leadership team with group leaders Creation of transparent pricing policies Individual discussions with lawyers Presentations at practice group and team meetings Lawyers providing message to clients
- 12. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Trends in Cost Recovery The Value of Online Research How can client behavior be changed? Partners having the value discussions with their clients Engagement letters that include transparent research pricing policies
- 13. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Budget Face the responsibility w/o authority dilemma Budget your projected recovery against expense to create the % of costs you hope to recover Depending on individual firm needs and vendor bill groups, this budget may be split out by office, practice group, etc. Set up accounts for each service where you plan to recover costs
- 14. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Budget Example GL for use in paying expense and another for dispersing costs
- 15. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Budget Example Percentage expected to recover
- 16. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Budget Set up two accounts The two accounts should be related to be able to report on the recovery against cost Work with your accounting department may have alternative ways of setting this up depending on software and firm processes, policies, and procedures
- 17. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Budget Work with Pro Bono to budget use of research services Handled differently at each firm ProBono team may have their own budget Lexis vs. Westlaw
- 18. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar ERM Tools The Players Lookup Precision (Advanced Productivity Software - US) This is not a West product. OneLog (Info Technology Supply, LTD UK) Research Monitor (Priory Solutions UK) Cost Recovery Manager (LexisNexis US) Research Agent (sold to nQueue and taken off the market)
- 19. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar ERM Tools Market Penetration Survey of NLJ 250 with 100 firms responding regarding the use of cost recovery tools 37 out of 100 firms have purchased the software 51 out of 100 firms plan to purchase in the near future If other NLJ 250 firms follow suit, 88% of that population of law firms will be using this type of software.
- 20. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar ERM Tools - Market Distribution
- 21. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar ERM Tools The Features and Functionality Site tracking Client/matter validation User id and password management Auto-population of user ids and passwords License management Reports Usage reports Cost recovery reports
- 22. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar ERM Tools Past Issues Difficult to set up Limited reporting Desktop plugins
- 23. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar ERM Tools Use in Practice Functionality Implemented 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 Cost Recovery Site Tracking Password management License management Access Control Other NumberofFirms
- 24. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Disbursement Management Vendor Tools West Quickview + Lexis Power Invoice PACER Dialog Others?
- 25. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Resources Westlaw Cost Recovery Solutions Lexis Lexis Power Invoice Library Relations Article LexisNexis Cost Recovery Manager
- 26. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Disbursement Management - Vendor Tools Use of macros Uploading files to Accounting Cost recovery vendor solutions e.g., Equitrac Online Services Module Providing backup Power Invoice Enhanced report Quickview + - Target options
- 27. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Tracking Progress Reports, Reports and more Reports Internal library reports Maintain payment history in library system or spreadsheets Report on how payments were broken out from month to month (e.g., out of contract vs. in contract) Report predicted recovery based on billable vs. non-billable in usage reports
- 28. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Tracking Progress Reports, Reports and more Reports Internal accounting reports Reports for each unit (office, group, etc) and resource being tracked - monthly Clients who are not charged or where research has been discounted - quarterly Write-offs and non-billable charges in spreadsheet format with clients, lawyers and practice groups included in report quarterly Exceptions report - monthly
- 29. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Tracking Progress Reports, Reports and more Reports Vendor reports Quickview + and PowerInvoice reports Outside of contract details monthly, quarterly and annually insist on spreadsheet format Use to determine what resources to add to contract Do not add outside contract content that can be passed on to client (e.g., briefs)
- 30. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Communicating Recovery to Firm Leaders Dont be surprised Call leaders or accounting to discuss issues the reports unearth Call group heads to discuss non-billables or exceptions Treat write-offs with care
- 31. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Conclusion Cost recovery is here to stay for now If beliefs dont change, we will continue to struggle in recovering costs If we do change beliefs, we will be contributing to the firms bottom line
- 32. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Questions? Need Help? Contact Us Nina Platt, Owner, Principal Consultant nplatt@ninaplatt.com Carrie Long, Research Analyst clong@ninaplatt.com Emily Harder, Office Manager eharder@ninaplatt.com
- 33. Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Cost Recovery: The Basics, a NPCI webinar Contact Us for More Information Nina Platt Consulting, Inc. (NPCI) nplatt@ninaplatt.com Call us: 612-235-7485 Visit us on the web: www.ninaplatt.com Read our blogs: http://strategiclibrarian.com http://lawfirmintranet.com http://electronicresourcereview.wordpress.com