I finally found something on WestlawNext pricing from a Thomson Reuters document called “WestlawNext: Pricing Guide for Commercial Plans“. The pricing seems a wee-bit steep on my initial view, especially if you take the per minute charge and multiply them by 60 to get the hourly charges (like I did in the chart below.) How about $3,300.00 and hour to view appellate court briefs? Or, $3,400.00 to get a 50 state survey??
NOTE: According to the document, this pricing was fixed back on February 8, 2010 (that would be the launch date.) The pricing is subject to change on a 30-day notice. This is generic pricing, and your individual contracts may not be the same as listed in this document.
Remember, these are WestlawNext pricing, this is aseparatebilling model from your existing Westlaw.com pricing guide. Also, remember that WestlawNext gives you results from all of the WestlawNext databases, regardless of if those are in your contract. The good news is that you get a great results list that is comprehensive. The bad news is if one of your users clicks on one of those results and views the document that is out of contract, the ancillary charges below kick in. Whoa to the first-year associate that clicks on a 50-State Survey and reads it online for an hour or two!! (Read the ‘redbolded‘ section below the chart to see how these ancillary charges work.) Remember to educate your users on the new pricing of WestlawNext (especially on the out of contract charges!!)
Ancillary Charges to View Documents on WestlawNext
| Content Category | Content Examples | Per Minute | Per Hour | Transactional | Document | Line |
| Cases | state and federal cases | $13.33 | $799.80 | $13.00 | $16.50 | $.05 |
| Statutes and Court Rules–State | state statutory compilations | $18.33 | $1,099.80 | $16.00 | $16.50 | $.05 |
| Statutes and Court Rules–Federal | USCA® | $20.00 | $1,200.00 | $25.00 | $16.50 | $.05 |
| Regulations–State | state administrative compilations | $15.00 | $900.00 | $16.00 | $16.50 | $.05 |
| Regulations–Federal | Code of Federal Regulations | $20.00 | $1,200.00 | $25.00 | $16.50 | $.05 |
| Administrative Decisions and Guidance–State | state attorney general opinions, state workers’ compensation decisions | $15.00 | $900.00 | $20.00 | $16.50 | $.05 |
| Administrative Decisions and Guidance–Federal | decisions of the Board of Veterans’ Affairs,N.L.R.B., and E.E.O.C. | $18.33 | $1,099.80 | $25.00 | $16.50 | $.05 |
| Administrative Decisions and Guidance–RIA | RIA’s State and Local Taxes | $41.67 | $2,500.20 | $46.00 | $16.50 | $.05 |
| Briefs | appellate court briefs | $55.00 | $3,300.00 | $85.00 | $30.25 | $.05 |
| Secondary Sources–Journals and Law Reviews, Practice Guides, andJury Instructions | Law reviews, state jury instructions, practice guides | $33.33 | $1,999.80 | $30.00 | $16.50 | $.05 |
| Secondary Sources–Premium State and Specialty Titles | Rutter Group publications, Florida Jurisprudence 2d, Business Transactions Solution | $38.33 | $2,299.80 | $42.00 | $16.50 | $.05 |
| Secondary Sources–Premium National Titles | ALR®, C.J.S.®, American Jurisprudence 2d | $41.67 | $2,500.20 | $46.00 | $16.50 | $.05 |
| Secondary Sources–Surveys | 50-State Surveys | $ 56.67 | $3,400.20 | $250.00 | $30.25 | $.05 |
| Jury Verdicts and Settlements | summaries of jury verdicts and settlements | $ 38.33 | $2,299.80 | $35.00 | $16.50 | $.05 |
| Pleadings, Motions, and Memoranda | trial court filings | $53.33 | $3,199.80 | $75.00 | $16.50 | $.05 |
| Trial Court Orders | court orders issued by state trial courts | $53.33 | $3,199.80 | $75.00 | $16.50 | $.05 |
| Proposed and Pending Legislation | state session laws, text of current bills | $15.00 | $900.00 | $16.00 | $16.50 | $.05 |
| Proposed and Pending Regulations | Federal Register, state administrative registers,text of pending regulations | $15.00 | $900.00 | $16.00 | $16.50 | $.05 |
| News Sources–Basic | abstracts, archived publications | $11.67 | $700.20 | $10.00 | $16.50 | $.05 |
| News Sources–General and Specialty Publications | newswires, regional newspapers, trade journals | $26.67 | $1,600.20 | $32.00 | $16.50 | $.05 |
| News Sources–Premium | New York Times, Guardian, Euromoney | $30.00 | $1,800.00 | $36.00 | $16.50 | $.05 |
Here is the summary from the document explaining the “Chargeable Events”:
Chargeable Events
Summary
On WestlawNext, there are three broad categories of chargeable events:
• searching for documents
See AlsoWhat is Sign Off?
• viewing documents
• offline delivery of documents
The monthly fee you pay for your WestlawNext subscription covers searching for documents on WestlawNext, including searching content not included in your plan. A search of all core legal content, therefore, is included in your monthly fee, even though it may retrieve results from content not included in your plan.
The monthly fee also covers viewing documents and offline delivery of documents from content that is included in your plan. It does not cover viewing documents and offline delivery of documents from content that is not included in your plan. When you view or deliver documents offline from content not included in your plan, ancillary charges apply and you will be billed at the applicable rate for that content (see the ancillary charges chart).
When you click a link on WestlawNext to access content on Westlaw (e.g., Public Records), your WestlawNext session is suspended and current Westlaw pricing rules apply.
Documents in Folders
Documents in folders may be accessed at no charge for 12 months after the initial chargeable view.
• For users who have selected transactional billing, the initial chargeable view occurs the first time a document is viewed (within or outside of the folder).
• For users who have selected hourly billing, the initial chargeable view occurs the first time a document is viewed within the folder.
It is charged at the applicable transactional display charge for the document. Hourly billing (including communications charges) is suspended while browsing folders.
Documents in folders viewed after 12 months will incur the WestlawNext transactional display charge for the document thenin effect.
