According to the American Bar Association’s 2013 Legal Technology Survey Report, 96% of respondents report they conduct legal research online, but that they are less satisfied with free resources than with fee-based resources. The 2012 Research Intelligence Group’s “New Attorney Research Methods Survey” found that new associates (five years or less) spend about 31% (14.5 hours per week) of their time conducting legal research. For those in practice less than two years, the percentage rises to 35%. The new associates (reported that they used fee-based online resources for eight of their 14.5 hours of legal research per week while spending four hours per week using free or low-cost online resources. Fee-based resources are used more often by large firm associates (74% frequently/always) than small firm associates (46%).
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