What is the Lexis strategy of blocking Amlaw from buying other products?

By Michael Feit | Feit Consulting , Vendors

In 2017, Lexis decided existing clients can no longer have access to Law 360 or any other products if they cancel core Lexis. This strategy seems to be working in about 20% of firms that might have otherwise canceled Lexis. For the most part, these products are too new and not that important yet to most firms for this new strategy to have a major impact.

We recommend that Lexis take advantage of Westlaw’s arrogant pricing and try to partner with firms to show the value in their suite of products.  It does not make sense to cut off revenue streams given firms’ willingness to walk away from Lexis.  In most instances, not allowing customers access to your jewel products is going to be more costly than the value of trying to retain products.  

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 can we expect in 2018

By Michael Feit | Feit Consulting , Legal Information Trends , Modern Law Library , Vendors

In 2018, Lexis will continue to purchase existing products. They are taking the lead in visual analytics. By acquiring great products such as Intelligize, Lex Machina, and Ravel Law, this momentum is expected to continue.

We anticipate that Lexis will further enforce their rules. If you don’t have core Lexis you won’t have access to their peripheral products (right now this is only being enforced with AMLaw firms). Rolling out of this policy to the entire market will be dependent upon their success rate.

More firms will choose Lexis this year, unless Westlaw corrects its tone deaf pricing model.

As Lexis and Westlaw usage declines at the firm level, we anticipate Lexis/Westlaw will try to aggressively lock firms into longer term contracts.

What does legal information management mean for firms in 2018? Recovery rates firms used to pass through to clients will continue to dwindle. We are seeing more firms seeking solutions to modernize their library, in search of great efficiencies and cost-savings. This is an illustration of a growing investment of time and money to improve and enhance the library and its role. 

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.

The Law Library: A Center of Excellence

By Michael Feit | Best Practices , Feit Consulting , Legal Information Trends , Modern Law Library , Resources

“A Center of Excellence (COE) is a team, a shared facility or an entity that provides leadership, best practices, research, support and / or training for a focus area.”

– Mark O. George (2010), The Lean Six Sigma Guide To Doing More With Less, John Wiley & Sons.

It is no secret that the legal sector is in flux. As clients demand better value for the dollars they spend, firms are taking a hard look at how they do business; analyzing their organizational structure, and evaluating the way services are delivered with an eye towards process improvement.  Out of this structural evolution comes the Modern Law Library.

The top challenges facing law firms today has little to do with actually practicing law.  As costs and expenses rise and revenue drops, law firms are facing major hurdles supporting  their everyday business practices.  How exactly might the Modern Library help?

By moving towards a COE approach, the Modern Library can provide “sufficient and easily accessible legal and business research” so that decision makers have intelligence to make informed decisions for positive results.  Still providing research services, the Modern Law Library embodies evolution, innovation and collaboration.

Where to begin?

A Feit Modern Library Audit evaluates the utilization of personnel, internal processes, technology, legal information contracts and overall support to assess and identify new roles the library might consider within their Firm. Presented are clear recommendations specific to your firm/organization with the goal of saving money, improving efficiencies, and maximizing the utilization of resources.

What better way to start the New Year than with resolutions for improvement. Is it time to consider transitioning your library to a Modern Library and towards a Center of Excellence?

Contact a Feit Advisor for an initial conversation on what this means for your Firm.  

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.