Category Archives for "Best Practices"

The Role of Technology in the Modern Law Library

By Michael Feit | Best Practices , Librarians , Modern Law Library , Resources

Whether tackling big data, pushing curated content to client team dashboards, ensuring your Electronic Resource Management (ERM) or Integrated Library System (ILS) is meeting expectations or keeping abreast of legal apps, the Modern Library needs to be at the technological forefront of their organizations.

As information professionals, the Library needs to take a proactive approach of see a need fill a need and help organizations identify, and test possible technology solutions. It doesn’t have to be some grandiose approach, start small and present something simple that can solve a problem showing immediate ROI.

Learn more about the role of technology in the Modern Library in Beyond Virtualization: Transforming the Law Library. Release date is Friday, January 26th. Pre-release pricing now available. Click here to learn more.

When to benchmark your Legal Information Contracts

By Michael Feit | Benchmarking , Best Practices , Contract Negotiations , Feit Consulting , Legal Information Trends , White Papers

Contract negotiations not only set product/vendor pricing for the next contracted term, but can also determine the pricing path your firm will be on for years after. We all know the story–3-5% increases year over year. Once you lock in at a price and terms, this becomes your new baseline for future negotiations. Vendors will only want to increase over your current price.

However, price corrections can be made at your next contract negotiations. Feit Consulting sees about 15-20% of the large law firm market paying substantially higher than the market mid-point. Firms that fall into this category won’t be able to reach the market mid-point in one contract cycle; it could take several cycles to price-correct.

There are two secrets to securing optimal pricing in your next legal information contract negotiations: planning and market knowledge (benchmarking your contracts).

Allocating enough time to plan for negotiations is one element. Due to secret pricing, no one firm can truly know whether their contract is exceptional or fair without outside knowledge. Benchmarking your legal information contracts is a worthwhile exercise to understanding your starting place going into contract negotiations.

Feit Consulting has been a leader in optimizing legal information resources for firms since 2001.

Have your legal information contracts benchmarked by Feit Consulting, and receive a firm-specific benchmark. Alternatively, Feit Consulting’s white paper, Optimizing Legal Information Pricing shares Feit’s market benchmarks on Spend Per Attorney, Discounts and more.

Contact Feit Consulting today to get started.

The Value of Membership Libraries to Support the Business of Law

By Michael Feit | Best Practices , Feit Consulting , Modern Law Library

We advise that the Librarian should look at potential membership libraries to make sure the choice supports the needs of the firm beyond the basics of research services and document delivery. Evaluate their general, special and archival collections and ancillary services. Outline the benefits. What is the Return on Investment (ROI) to your firm? Prepare a Business Case so that management or finance understands. Membership means something entirely different in this context and you need to explain it in terms they can understand.

When we perform Modern Library audits, we are always looking for creative ways to advise firms on how they can supplement shrinking collections and tight staffing. One solution we have found to be of value is to recommend that firms explore joining a membership Library to support their specific needs. Generally speaking, membership libraries can help with additional research and content support, just in time document delivery, and access to specialized collections.

It is not just research and documents, membership libraries have embraced new models to support their members. We like to tell our clients that membership libraries can fill needs you may not even know you have. Consider that some offer plug in apps that interface with SharePoint pushing curated information that the Library can use to enhance their online catalogs and practice group pages. Others provide remote office and meeting space and even advertising opportunities. One size does not fit all when it comes to choosing a membership Library or a level of membership; however it is worth your time to investigate how a Membership Library could be a wise investment for your firm.

Modern Library Audit: Are you optimizing your current resources?

By Michael Feit | Benchmarking , Best Practices , Feit Consulting , Librarians , Resources

A Modern Library Audit is a measure of the utilization of personnel, internal processes, technology, legal information contracts and the overall support for the business of law.

Having an outside, objective analysis will save the firm/organization time and money. It is an investment in supporting the business of law. In this two-month audit, Feit Consulting will examine each of component of your library and provide clear recommendations specific to your firm/organization with the goal of saving money, improving efficiencies, and maximizing the utilization of resources.

Some of the unique topics that Feit Consulting will cover include;

• What best practices need updating ?
• Have you benchmarked your contracts lately ?
• Are your integrated library resources optimized ?

Having a 3rd party can add an objective view to your library

Click here to set up an initial, complimentary consultation. https://www.feitconsulting.com/get-started/

Billables: A Metric of the Modern Law Library

By Michael Feit | Benchmarking , Budgeting , Modern Law Library , Pricing

Seeking out new ways to (bill) financially support the library is a core element of the library modernization.  Feit Consulting’s research found that 94% of Libraries that deem themselves “modern” are billing for their time.

Billing for Library time and research services is an easy metric to illustrate use and ROI, if your firm has the necessary tools in place.

Here are 3 tips for how to implement appropriate billing practices.

1.  Monthly Monitoring – You can work with Finance to obtain monthly reports.  These monthly reports allows one to see which attorneys are passing on costs or writing off your time.  This information provides talking points for conversations with attorneys, shedding light on which attorneys are billing and which are not.
2. Highlight Expertise – For some, the title of librarian is not optimal for billing.  If the case, it could be time to change the billing title to analyst or senior analyst.  This provides an opportunity to dispel the librarian stereotype.  Many attorneys are not aware of the librarian credentials and subject expertise.  
3. Create a Billing Structure – There are various ways billing can occur.  The Library’s time can be directly billed to usage.  Alternatively, the Library’s costs could be divided evenly amongst all attorneys. 

Billing time allows the Library to function like a business, and provides data for annual budget development.  If these conversations are not yet part of one’s annual budget development, it can feel uncomfortable at first but is necessary to becoming a Modern Library.

2018 Changes & Projects for Improving Your Bottom Line

By Michael Feit | Best Practices , Contract Negotiations , Modern Law Library

Return on Investment (ROI). For some firms and organizations, the law library can seem like a large expense without full trackablity of the value it offers. Some firms and organizations use it as a cost center. However, there are ways to enhance return on investment beyond general reporting. Not to negate reporting because we do highly recommend it. Here are other ways to provide ROI for your law library.

Billing Title Change

Changing the billing title of one or all of the Library staff can be a simple fix to passing on their research time to clients.

Modern Library Audit

A Modern Library Audit provides a current assessment of where your law library is today, and based on your unique firm’s or organization’s situation, what opportunities exist for transforming and streamlining workflow. Feit Consulting conducts Modern Library Audits for firms and organizations. This encompasses our team of experts completing an assessment of usage, processes and technology use. We provide a full business case with clear recommendations, specific to your firm and organization. Recommendations provided highlight the impact on your bottom line. No two law libraries are alike, nor are the solutions and services needed for optimizing use and value.

Start the Negotiation Process Early

Time is a huge advantage in the legal information contract negotiation process. Providing an adequate amount of time to begin the process can mean the difference of thousands of dollars for the firm/organization. Assess value early, Get quotes early.

Benchmark Your Contracts

When was the last time you had your contracts benchmarked by an outside firm? Your firm or organization may have the strongest negotiators in the industry but without the knowledge of where your contract stands in the market, you have no foundation to start from.

Revisit your Legal Information Strategy

Reviewing your strategy ensures your goal setting for 2018 is in line with the firm/organization’s anticipated changes and goals. Revising your strategy is a strong way to start the new year.

Collection Audit

Is your portfolio of resources serving your constituents fully? We have clients who sign a new contract year over year without assessing the use and value to users because the price tag is not significant. These small items can add up. Take the time to review your collection. If you don’t’ have the time, hire an outside consulting firm like Feit Consulting. With a little investment of time and money, you could be saving thousands over the years to come.

Interested in learning more about what Feit can do for your firm, contact us today for an initial consultation.