Tag Archives for " Artificial Intelligence "

Stay Away From Long-Term Deals Unless…

By Michael Feit | Contract Negotiations , Vendors

Both Lexis and Westlaw are currently pitching long-term deals. This is symptomatic of a saturated market. Online usage and recovery rates have been declining since 2008 and as a result pricing has declined. Why lock your firm into a long-term price commitment in this rapidly evolving market?

Negotiating with the vendors can be a frustrating, drawn-out and often unsatisfying process. One of the key emotions we see in clients approaching the end of a contract with either Westlaw or Lexis is dread. So a longer contract with fewer renewals sounds like a great idea.

However, with rare exceptions, a long-term contract is among the worst paths a firm can choose for several reasons. The first reason seems obvious: change. Technology and pricing are continuously changing. You wouldn’t buy a plan that kept you from upgrading your phone for 5 years, would you?

The legal information landscape is rapidly evolving with exciting acquisitions and new companies/products emerging. These products will continue to pull away use and interest in Lexis and Westlaw. It is always possible that one change in the market could make another product irrelevant. And as Artificial Intelligence rapidly gains momentum, there is much to be seen.

Generally, a longer contract benefits the vendor. For legal information contracts, we always advise keeping the term to within your near- and long-term forecasts, which is generally three years or fewer unless you are receiving a truly exceptional deal.

Artificial Intelligence: A New Niche for Librarians?

By Michael Feit | Best Practices , Librarians

Artificial Intelligence has been around since the 50’s, ebbing and flowing with success and failure. Not until the advent of e-discovery has it really been seen as a possible solution in the legal industry. But with the adoption of e-discovery, AI has taken hold, and legal vendors are pushing solutions into mainstream legal technology.

AI discussions are trending in legal blogs, webinars and what seems like monthly new product announcements–consider FASTCASE and their new product announcement of SANDBOX, or LEXIS and Ravel.

Many librarian information professionals are involved in knowledge management; thus it seems a logical next step for these professionals to evaluate, recommend and train attorneys in the use of AI solutions.

As information professionals, we need to take a proactive approach and look for problems faced by our organizations that may have possible AI solutions. It doesn’t have to be some grandiose approach; start small, and present something simple that can solve a problem showing ROI. As more and more of the online legal vendors we currently use add Artificial Intelligence options and analytics to their products, we should be taking the lead on presenting these solutions to Management. Don’t wait until they become add-ons to a contract renewal and you have to scramble to evaluate and get approval. A new niche for law librarians–we think so.