“As a person who has watched this industry for over 17 years; it is amazing and frustrating to see that 30% of the market is still paying way too much.” -Michael Feit
Prices for Westlaw and Lexis grew astronomically from the late 90’s up until the 2008 due to usage growing so fast. After 2008, 30% of the market said it cannot afford to cover the costs of online research – not being able to pass off the full costs to clients.
Some firms were successful in getting concessions from both Westlaw/Lexis. However, in 2010 the Sole Provider trend emerged. Many firms started to move forward and eliminate either Westlaw or Lexis.
Right now; 55% of large law firms have one or the other. Of the 45% of firms that continue to have both Lexis and Westlaw, 20% have threatened to eliminate a vendor….or have eliminated a vendor but then took them back at best of market pricing.
Currently, 25-30% of market are still overpaying by greater than 50-100% of mid-market pricing (per Feit’s Benchmarks). Is your firm getting the best market pricing? Click here to get more information from our experts.
Michael Feit earned his J.D. from the Loyola University School of Law in Chicago and was an executive at Westlaw before founding Feit Consulting 16 years ago. Feit Consulting partners with law firm administrators and legal information professionals to optimize vendor contracts and the management and delivery of legal information resources by providing leading-edge, customized solutions. Contact Michael at mike@feitconsulting.com