Category Archives for "Contract Negotiations"

ROI and the Modern Law Library

By Michael Feit | Benchmarking , Best Practices , Feit Consulting , Legal Information Trends , Modern Law Library , Resources , Surveys , White Papers

The Modern Library requires individuals to change their mindset from maintaining the status quo to adopting a new way of doing things. What is the ROI of your Law Library?  Do you feel the library’s resources are being optimized?

Our team of experts evaluate resources, personnel, technology, processes, and overall usage of the Library and its’ resources.

This allows Feit Consulting to custom tailor and deliver invaluable knowledge, guidance and processes for analyzing the ROI of your legal information portfolio.

A Modern Library Audit will include clear steps to increasing the Return On Investment of your Library by evaluating the utilization of personnel, internal processes, technology, legal information resources and the overall support for the business of law.  With this information we will develop a unique business plan with workable recommendations that are specific to your firm’s needs and culture.

Another excellent resource for ROI assessment is our Market Trends Legal Information Series.  This series is composed of white papers and survey results on pertinent topics such as:

• How to take a proactive approach to evaluating the sole-provider option allowing you to make informed decisions regarding vendor elimination.
• How to assess the value of your firm’s resources and learn key negotiation tools for optimizing results.
• The historical pricing and current strategies of Westlaw & Lexis featuring data on 98% of the large law market.
• Best practices on modernizing the law library to create efficiencies including survey results and checklists for evaluating technologies.

As thought leaders working to challenging existing paradigms, Feit Consulting is committed to providing your firm with tools, concrete steps and leading-edge solutions for making the best decision for your legal information strategy and bottom line.  CLICK HERE and Contact Feit Today for More Information.  

Strategy, Planning, and ROI Tracking for 2018

By Michael Feit | Best Practices , Contract Negotiations , Feit Consulting , Librarians , Modern Law Library , Pricing , Sole Provider , Vendors

Spring brings about the opportunity to do things differently. Technology and the buzz word – modernization, are on the mind we enter into this new year. There are tactical things you as an Administrator or Librarian can do to stay ahead of the game this coming year, and make technology and modernization optimized within your Library.

Budget – Two key words come to mind with regards to budget: collaboration and reporting. Work with Finance to more efficiently monitor budget and expenses. Establish a new schedule for collecting data, and the date of each month or quarter you will turn around that data. For example, receiving data on the 3rd of the month and providing a report to management on the 10th of each month.

Reporting – What metrics are you using to measure ROI and showcase value? Are you collecting feedback from library users? Are you using an Electronic Resource Management (ERM) tool? If so, are you utilizing its full capacity?

Contract Management Planning – Implement new deadlines for legal information management planning. Most of us mark contract expirations on a calendar or in a tracking program. Go a step further.

• Month 1: Determine which tools you have in place that can provide data on usage, costs, and value. Such tools may include: Invoices, ERM, developing a survey for users, and scheduling one-on-one conversations with attorneys and staff to assess value and usage of products.
• Month 2: Collect data. Based on the tools determined in month 1, begin collecting data. Work with finance to dive into invoices.
• Month 3: Analyze the data. Understand what is your ROI for the expiring product(s). Look at as many metrics as you can: Spend per Attorney, usage, discount, etc.
• Month 4-6: Begin the negotiation process by requesting a proposal from vendor. Remember, it is more beneficial for vendors to wait to the last minute for pressure to sign the new contract. It won’t be easy but start early.

For firms and organizations considering eliminating Lexis or Westlaw, start this process 9 months to 12 months in advance of your contract expiration of either vendor. Assessing vendor preference and combating concerns is a lengthier process than one might think. While it has been done in a month, having more time on your side is always an advantage.

Feit Consulting’s Optimizing Legal Information Pricing is an excellent resource. It shares detailed processes and steps for contract negotiation planning, knowing which metrics to use, and how best to strategize the negotiation process.

2018 Changes & Projects for Improving Your Bottom Line

By Michael Feit | Benchmarking , Best Practices , Feit Consulting

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: Don’t wait till the last minute to negotiate (Plan ahead post) – Look at Sole provider playbook report and blog posts.

Collection Audit: Is your portfolio of resources serving your constituents fully? We have clients to 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.

What happened in 2017?

By Michael Feit | Contract Negotiations , Feit Consulting , Librarians , Resources , Sole Provider , Vendors

Westlaw and Lexis continued to see their market share erode due to firms eliminating one or the other vendors as the Sole Provider trend continues. Lexis is now starting to become victorious where previously Westlaw has dominated the market.  What is interesting is the rate at which firms choosing Lexis to Westlaw has increased.

Lexis really stepped it up in 2017.  By purchasing new companies and developing a suite of products. Lexis holds onto firms that might have canceled by allowing access to their exclusive suite of products, making it difficult for firms to exist without Lexis.  

Westlaw maintains legacy popularity but we find them priced too high in many places and firms cannot justify the astronomical price disparities. Firms are unhappy with Westlaw’s inexplicable pricing model and as a result, more firms are eliminating Westlaw more so than ever before.

BBNA had some success in 2017.  They have been breaking into firms that have phased out Westlaw or Lexis but for the most part they are more expensive than Westlaw/Lexis and firms are not interested spending that much money on an unproven product.  

Westlaw/Lexis were very aggressive in going after firms that they had historically lost by giving firms they lost?  10-15% of firms that had previously canceled a vendor contract are “flipping” in order to get best in market vendor pricing, sometimes at 1/10th the price, and taking vendors back to these lower price points.

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.

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/