Top 10 Legal Research Challenges Faced by Attorneys (and How to Solve Them)

Legal research is the backbone of effective lawyering—but for many attorneys, it’s also one of the most time-consuming and mentally taxing aspects of practice. Whether you’re preparing for litigation, drafting pleadings, or seeking case law to back up a motion, legal research challenges can drain valuable time and slow your momentum.

Below, we highlight 10 common legal research challenges attorneys face—and, more importantly, how to solve them so you can work smarter, not harder.

The 10 Most Common Legal Research Challenges (and Solutions)

1. Time Constraints

The Challenge: Attorneys are under immense pressure to meet court deadlines, attend hearings, conduct client meetings, and manage discovery. Legal research, while critical, often gets sidelined or rushed—leading to incomplete analysis or missed precedents.

The Solution: Outsourcing legal research to qualified professionals can dramatically improve turnaround times. Instead of spending hours searching databases, attorneys can receive well-organized research memos or case summaries within a specified timeframe—allowing them to focus on strategy, client advocacy, and trial prep.

2. Information Overload

The Challenge: Legal databases like Westlaw, LexisNexis, and Casetext offer an abundance of information. But quantity doesn’t always mean quality. It can be frustrating and time-consuming to sift through hundreds of irrelevant cases or outdated statutes.

The Solution: Expert legal researchers know how to craft precise Boolean searches and apply filters effectively. They focus on jurisdictional relevance, procedural posture, and outcome-specific facts. Attorneys can also narrow searches by using headnotes, key numbers, or curated databases, and outsource broad research questions to external teams to receive distilled summaries.

3. Inconsistent Search Results Across Platforms

The Challenge: Using different research tools can yield inconsistent results. A case you find easily on Fastcase might not appear on Lexis with the same search terms. This inconsistency can cause delays and incomplete analysis.

The Solution: Standardize your research process internally by identifying a primary research platform. For critical issues, cross-reference key findings across multiple databases. Legal research providers often have access to several platforms and can provide comparative insight to ensure comprehensive coverage.

4. Understanding Multijurisdictional Law

The Challenge: For firms handling cases in multiple states—or cases involving federal and state law—the differences in procedure, precedent, and statutory interpretation can be daunting.

The Solution: Collaborate with legal research professionals who possess jurisdiction-specific expertise. You can also reference state-specific legal treatises, judicial opinions, and practice guides. Outsourcing helps ensure that your research is tailored to the relevant jurisdiction and complies with local court preferences.

5. Staying Updated with Changing Laws

The Challenge: New legislation, appellate court rulings, and regulatory changes can render once-reliable case law obsolete. Staying current requires constant monitoring—something most attorneys don’t have time for.

The Solution: Set up legal alerts for relevant topics or codes via Westlaw, Lexis, or Justia. Subscribe to court and bar association updates. Alternatively, legal research teams can provide weekly or monthly updates in your specific practice areas, summarizing recent decisions and their implications.

6. Interpreting Medical or Technical Literature

The Challenge: In personal injury, product liability, and medical malpractice cases, legal research often intersects with complex medical or technical issues that require expert interpretation.

The Solution: Collaborate with legal researchers who have experience interpreting medical records, radiology reports, and technical manuals. When needed, co-consult with medical experts to validate causation arguments. Outsourced research providers can integrate both legal and technical perspectives for stronger case theory.

7. Poorly Organized Research Archives

The Challenge: You or your team may have already researched a topic—but without proper organization, previous memos and case summaries become lost in cluttered folders or poorly named documents.

The Solution: Invest in a document management system (DMS) like NetDocuments, Clio, or SharePoint. Create a digital research archive organized by practice area, jurisdiction, or topic. Implement consistent naming conventions and version control. External research support teams can also help compile and organize ongoing research libraries.

8. Junior Attorneys Struggling with Research Quality

The Challenge: Associates or law clerks may lack the experience to identify controlling precedent or understand how to analyze conflicting decisions—resulting in inaccurate or incomplete research.

The Solution: Pair junior attorneys with mentors, provide them with sample research memos, and encourage use of annotated codes and secondary sources. Outsourcing research allows junior team members to learn from high-quality, well-organized memos that demonstrate professional research standards.

9. Billing Limitations for Non-Billable Research Time

The Challenge: Many clients question time billed for legal research, especially when it appears inefficient or excessive. Some firms absorb the cost, reducing profitability.

The Solution: By outsourcing research at a lower hourly rate, firms can control expenses while maintaining quality. Attorneys can reserve their billable time for client communication, court appearances, and strategy—clearly demonstrating value to clients.

10. Burnout from Repetitive Research Tasks

The Challenge: Handling the same research questions repeatedly—like negligence standards, summary judgment thresholds, or damages calculations—can lead to fatigue and mental burnout.

The Solution: Systematize repetitive research tasks by creating templates and precedent banks. Delegate recurring research assignments to a trusted outsourced partner who can deliver reliable results quickly. This protects mental bandwidth for high-value legal thinking.

Conclusion

Legal research doesn’t have to be a burden. While the challenges are real—ranging from time constraints to jurisdictional complexity—there are effective solutions available. By embracing outsourcing, organizing your workflow, and relying on experienced legal support, you can increase efficiency, reduce stress, and improve outcomes for your clients.

Need Help with Legal Research?

At Eternity Paralegal Services, we specialize in providing accurate, confidential, and jurisdiction-specific legal research support services to solo practitioners and law firms across the U.S. Whether it’s case law analysis, statutory interpretation, or multi-state comparisons, we’ve got you covered.

Contact us today to schedule your free consultation and learn how our dedicated legal research team can help you save time, reduce costs, and gain a competitive edge.