Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I use Legal Research Center for my research project?
Who will be doing my research?
How is quality controlled at LRC?
What is LRC's service guarantee?
How does LRC handle conflicts of interest?
How do I know that my information is kept confidential?
I'm in a hurry—how quickly can LRC help?
What international jurisdictions do you cover?
What is a multijurisdictional survey?
What are the costs involved in a multijurisdictional survey?
What does LRC charge for research and writing services?
What if more research is required than your initial estimate?
Can I share the cost of my research with another company?
How does LRC bill for smaller projects?
How do I place an order?
What information will I be asked for when placing an order?
Can LRC help me with my pre-litigation research?
Who writes your court-ready briefs?
I already started a brief—I just need help finishing it. Can you help?
Do you offer legislative history research?
What about pending legislation?
Can you draft pleadings?
What is publishing support?
Do you offer placement services?

Why should I use Legal Research Center for my research project?

With our scalable core team of experienced research attorneys, our global network of experts in all areas of substantive law, our access to top legal libraries and foreign law specialists, and our unparalleled devotion to excellence, Legal Research Center has you covered. Our biggest strength is our ability to respond to any legal, regulatory, or factual research assignment regardless of size, time constraint, or degree of difficulty. For example, LRC assembled a team of over 50 researchers to prepare more than 15,000 pages of analytical research for a corporate customer—in under six months. We look forward to meeting your unique research challenge, large or small.

Our employees—all highly credentialed, experienced research attorneys and information specialists with strong research and writing backgrounds—are all rigorously tested prior to hiring. We hire only honor law school graduates with at least two years of practical experience and technical proficiency, and most of our attorneys have over thirty years of experience in the legal profession.

Our projects are subject to a comprehensive editorial review by a senior attorney editor, as well as current citation checks. All projects commence with an outline detailing the assigned research scope, budget, and timeline, and all projects are followed up with an evaluation form and phone call to ensure clients' needs have been addressed. Additionally, whenever possible, the same research attorney or team with whom you have worked in the past will be assigned to your subsequent projects, allowing you to commission any research assignment with ease and confidence.

LRC guarantees complete satisfaction with its services. In the unlikely event that you are dissatisfied with our services, we will work with you to explore the possible steps to ensure your satisfaction. While we cannot guarantee that a specific case will be located in the predicted timeframe, we do guarantee the best effort possible to conduct the requested research within our allotted time and budget. Should we determine that more time is required, as is sometimes the case in any research project, we will advise you and request more time to complete the project.

LRC avoids conflicts of interest when delivering research and writing services to LRC customer through three principal methods: LRC policy, contracts with research attorneys, and strict observance of ethics rules. Learn more about our conflict of interest policy.

Legal Research Center is committed to maintaining customer confidence and trust in our security. We adhere to four independent obligations: contract obligations, ethical obligations, attorney-client privilege, and workproduct doctrine. Learn more about our confidentiality policy.

LRC understands that sometimes you need immediate results. Don't go to trial unprepared—give us a call when you're in a pinch. We can have evidence rules and case law support for your trial ready for you in as little as 30 minutes. You'll never be unprepared again.

LRC understands that today's business world is expanding. Our research is expanding too, crossing the boundaries of US law and into foreign, treaty, and international law. We tap into the nation's top foreign law library collections, as well as a worldwide network of foreign law experts, to support your business expansion and compliance objectives so that you can be confident in the regulatory environments that lie ahead for you and your growing practice.

To assist corporations and their outside counsel with their compliance programs and business expansion planning, LRC has prepared hundreds of studies comparing state, federal, and international laws. Search our offering of surveys already archived in our growing library, or commission a new one to meet your unique needs. LRC can also update its surveys based on the frequency with which the particular law changes: yearly, quarterly, monthly, or even continuously. With LRC's web-based delivery, updates can be posted as often as the law itself changes. Learn more about our Multijurisdictional Surveys.

Our clients are closely involved in developing a high-value/low-cost survey solution. Together, we will define the scope of the project, and we will present you with line items from which you can choose. Additionally, we can provide cost-recoupment, or resale, options for your consideration.

When you call with a project, LRC will develop a fixed price so that you'll know upfront the cost involved with your requested work. This fixed price is based on the number of legal issues to be addressed, the complexity of the required analysis, and our anticipated costs for computer-assisted research services and other incidentals. We also offer hourly pricing.

Sometimes, during the course of our research, we will identify and bring to your attention a collateral issue. You then have the option of expanding the scope of the project to include the additional issue. We can either adjust your fixed price to account for this new issue, or we can proceed on an hourly basis. In every instance, the pricing options are up to you!

Not only can LRC distribute the cost of major research undertakings among multiple corporations or law firms—LRC can also locate those corporations or firms who may be looking for the same kind of research, usually in connection with compliance-related issues. For example, in the past, LRC located eight companies to cosponsor a multijurisdictional survey of laws on employee drug testing.

Customers are asked to prepay. Larger or ongoing projects can be paid incrementally.

For defined legal research needs, simply visit our secure online order form, here. Alternatively, our representatives are happy to take your research or survey request over the phone—call 1-800-776-9377 (or 612-332-4950 from overseas) to place your order or for further information.

Depending on the type of order, any or all of the following information will assist us:

Client's name
Case name
Status of the case
Name of opposing counsel and firm
Statement of the facts
Research issues
Your thoughts and instincts about the case and issues
Any research you have compiled
Copies of any relevant file documents
Your timetable
Budget factors or restrictions

The more information you provide, the better able we will be to assist you in your specific needs.

LRC frequently prepares memoranda exploring various causes of action for a variety of situations, including pre-lawsuit negotiations and complaints. We can also give you settlement and jury verdict amounts awarded in similar cases based on venue, location, and other factors. You provide the facts, and we'll provide you with the possible legal outcomes—a valuable resource that will free up your time and allow you to focus your attention on the trial itself, as well as give an objective baseline for settlement negotiations and client counseling.

LRC has a staff of appellate brief writers whose many years of appellate brief writing experience result in a strong argument to support your position on appeal. If accepted under our guaranteed plan and the result of the case is not in your favor, we'll refund the cost in full. Learn more about Court-Ready Briefs.

No problem. LRC frequently incorporates research into multi-issue appellate or trial briefs. We can also provide the entire argument section for a brief with completed factual and procedural sections. You handle the issues you know best, and we'll handle the rest! Learn more about our Appellate Brief services.

Increasingly, the outcome of a case hinges on the interpretation of a recent statute that has not yet been examined by the courts. A successful argument may require a deeper understanding of lawmakers' motivations for having adopted specific language. LRC researches any rejected bills, committee reports, contemporary news reports, and other aids to uncover legislative intent so that you can have all of the relevant information at your fingertips.

Corporations and trade associations enlist LRC's help to track new and proposed legislation, which may affect employees and members. LRC utilizes premier resources to offer fast, affordable tracking services. Learn more about Legislative Tracking.

Whether you are carefully planning a suit or have an immediate statute of limitations problem, LRC can help. After reviewing the results of your factual investigation, LRC will scour the applicable law, propose available causes of action, offer further factual development suggestions, and draft a sustainable complaint in the appropriate state or federal venue. If you prefer to draft the complaint yourself, LRC can prepare a thorough memorandum to help guide you through the factual and legal issues.

LRC has conducted extensive research and written analytic materials for the nation's largest and best-known publishers in both print and electronic formats. Members of LRC's executive team and research staff have personal experience working for legal publishers, making us the nation's best choice for projects with tight publication schedules. Our team of experienced website content developers can also help convert legalese into consumer-friendly prose through our expanded website initiatives for your project.

LRC provides research attorneys for long-term research projects. Our attorneys can work on your premises or ours, based on your specific needs and the needs of the project.

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