The Library established the Subscription Service in 1982 to provide quick and easy access to our collections by the many law firms and businesses in the New York City metropolitan area. Orders placed by members are given the highest priority by a staff dedicated to their needs.
With payment of an annual fee, about forty law firms and businesses enjoy free borrowing of monographs and lower rates for photocopying and emailing of Law Library materials. We also provide research performed by experienced professional staff, several annual passes for on-site use, and photocopies of documents held in other libraries on the University's Morningside Heights campus
We designed the Service for firms making regular, in-depth use of the Library's resources. Our Document Delivery Service is available to firms or individuals needing only occasional access to our collections.
The subscription year runs from January through December, but we prorate the annual fee for firms joining after the year has begun. If you would like to become a subscriber or want more information about the service, please call Janet Pinkowitz at (212) 854-5445, or send e-mail to: firmserv@law.columbia.edu. Back to top
Hours of Service and Annual Fees (HTML format), 2009
Two choices are available, depending on how frequently you will be calling. With the Half-Day Service, orders must be placed either in the morning OR in the afternoon, Monday through Friday. With Full-Day Service, calls and requests may be made up till 5:30 p.m. Copy requests made late in the day may not be completed until the next day.
Circulation policy: Subscribers may borrow one-volume or two-volume works. This excludes items which are non-circulating, e.g., all looseleafs, Reference books, primary materials, serials, individual volumes from sets of three volumes or more.
Borrowing period:
Two weeks (no charge)
One renewal of one week in length, if book is not needed by another patron.
Fines for a late return:
$2.00 per day for first three weeks overdue;
$4.00 per day after three weeks, with $200.00 maximum;
$2.00 per day for recalled or Reserve Collection titles (Reserve items are available only during summer months);
$2.00 extra per day for an item which has been recalled
Charge for a lost book:
Late return fine plus replacement and processing costs
Copying and Sending
Per Copy Charges:
Photocopy
$0.80
Print-out from PDF
$1.00
E-file - see below
Fiche/film print
$2.00
Fiche duplication
$3.00
Per Copy Transmission Charges (additional):
Scan and send via Ariel
$0.50
E-file sent via e-mail
$20.00
Fax - Local
$1.75
Fax - Long distance
$1.75
Fax - International
$3.25
Maximum number:
On a busy day we may limit copy requests to a maximum of five items
Rush service:
Book Request - $10.00 (we usually notify you of availability within a half hour of having received the rush order)
Fax or Email Request - $20.00 (we usually notify you of availability within a half hour of having received the order and send the copies in another half hour)
Copyright Clearance Centerfees:
The Library is registered with the Copyright Clearance Center, which acts as a clearinghouse for publishers and authors. Fees noted above do not include royalty fees paid by the Library to the Center which will be passed on to the requester.
Search fees
$80.00 per hour, with charges calculated in 15 minute time periods. We can do limited amounts of research (e.g. consulting of indexes and secondary sources such as reference tools or treatises), but we cannot provide legal advice or guarantee the completeness or accuracy of the material.
$20.00 service fee for copy requests from Business and Lehman Libraries, as well as other libraries on the Morningside Campus. Same-day service is not always available for this type of request.
Access to the Library
Subscribers receive six annual passes which may be used during regular Library hours by any member of the firm. No special arrangements need to be made in advance.
We send a monthly itemized invoice to our subscribers. If requested, we note the client-matter number with each order. The invoice for the annual fee is sent by mid-November.
Most orders are placed by phone, email, or via the web-based order form. Many law-related documents cannot be found by doing an author/title search of our catalog, but we are often able to locate them for our subscribers (see Search fees). Back to top
