Monthly Archives: April 2017

Apr 16

Our “Secret Sauce” is Revealed

By Kate | Contract Negotiations , Pricing , White Papers

​In a secret pricing market, how can firms truly know whether their contract is on par with the market without external advisement? Our new white paper, Optimizing Legal Information Pricing, shares benchmarking information for firms to begin to understand how their contracts measure up.

Many may shake their heads, wondering why we would give away this information.

Having knowledge of appropriate metrics and a pricing framework only provides a foundation upon which to build in your contract negotiations. Any negotiation is a give-and-take process, with two sides of the table deciding to collaborate together in order to find a mutually beneficial middle ground. There are still many other elements that factor into the negotiation process including practice areas, size, vendor rep, product/content mix, vendor preference and many more.

We estimate that 15% of the large law firm market is substantially overpaying, a majority of which are AmLaw 100 or based out of New York City. This report serves as a point of reference for law firm administrators and legal information decision makers to initiate the process of correcting pricing for their firm. For the rest of the market, this report brings assurance to how your contracts and proposals for new products compares and takes into consideration multiple variables and parameters.

In May 2017, Feit Consulting will release our next white paper, Optimizing Legal Information Pricing, in which we share revealing benchmarks every firm will need to have in contract review and negotiations. With 16 years in this business, we’ve accumulated a knowledge base unparalleled in legal information; we call it our “secret sauce”.

In sum, Feit Consulting’s Optimizing Legal Information Pricing report reveals valuable, essential information we think every law firm should have. It gets you to a level playing field. Firms that order the report pre-release can have up to five legal information contracts evaluated against our benchmarks. For more information, click here.

Apr 15

Feit’s White Papers

By Michael Feit | White Papers

The legal information market is constantly evolving due to advanced technologies and vendors’ changing pricing structures and content packages, while firms are striving to efficiently deliver legal information. As a thought leader and partner to firms in managing their legal information, Feit Consulting developed the Market Trends Legal Information Series.

The Series is a unique set of resources, providing law firm administrators with market analysis, expertise, and future trend forecasts, and shares critical insights for shaping your firm’s legal information management strategy. Our team of experts work collaboratively, analyzing data obtained in surveys and interviews, to address challenges facing legal information professionals.

Current reports and resources in the Series include:

Read more about the Market Trends Legal Information Series.

Apr 15

Value of the Office Copy Audit

By Michael Feit | Best Practices , Budgeting

Savvy librarians are always looking for ways to assess and right-size their collections, both print and electronic. As practice groups come and go, information needs change, and new products come to market. There are several kinds of collection audits that can be conducted at different times. For instance, the Office Copy Audit can be a valuable tool in annual budget preparation.

“Office Copies” is a budget line that is continually growing and can be an emotional powder keg when surveying attorneys about their office copy needs. As you review office copies by practice group, you can build a report with data showing Management exactly how much it costs to support a practice area’s information needs. Finance is always interested in data that provides insight into practice group spend versus practice group profitability.

For report generation, you will need to categorize and sort your resources by title, vendor, practice group and price. Areas to consider for your Office Copy Audit:

(1) Are you choosing the best content for the price?

(2) Have other vendors moved into the market with the same content but at a better value?

(3) Are you including office copies in a LMA; and if so, does the Swap-Out Period give you enough flexibility to add and delete copies as attorney numbers change?

(4) When was the last time you actually surveyed attorneys on the value of the office copies they receive?

Once you have your report in hand, set aside a time to meet with the Practice Chair to review titles and expenses charged to the group. This can be a real eye-opener when it comes to costs incurred. Many times the mere cost of publications will gain support for cancellation of materials that are seldom used. This conversation can bring up other factors to consider, such as format changes from electronic to print for better access.

The Office Copy Audit is a win-win for the library, because it highlights to Management that you care about your budget spend. The audit opens a line of communication with the Practice Chair and shows that you are thinking about how to best support their legal information needs in a cost-effective manner.

As firms continue to question the costs of library real estate and resources, a full Collection Audit might be something to consider. As prices of print and online resources escalate, the Collection Audit will identify redundant content and help you right-size your resources better. Feit Consulting can work with your firm on an Office Copy Audit or a full Collection Audit. Click here to learn how your firm can work with Feit.

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