Tag Archives for " evaluation "

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.

Collaboration – What This Means for the Law Library Today

By Michael Feit | Associations , Legal Information Trends , Librarians , Modern Law Library

A key component of the Modern Law Library is moving outside the realm of Legal Research Support. Law firms have always depended on library and information professionals to support the research needs of their lawyers. While this is still true, great success now depends on the Library taking a more active role in their organization to help support the day to day business of law. See a need, fill a need.

Whether embedded in a practice group to assist attorney teams or partnering with client development to support business development and increase revenue streams, the Modern Library plays a vital role. No one size fits all when it comes to organizational structure.

Begin by assessing your organization and consider who you might target with your message of providing support. If you are going to propose new roles, talk to the involved departments. Understand what they do, their needs and their workflow. How might you assist them with library resources and staffing already in place?  

Beyond Virtualization: Transforming the Law Library elaborates in detail on the concept of collaboration and the many various components worth considering in modernizing your Law Library. Release date is Friday, January 26th. Pre-release pricing now available. Click here to learn more.

What does it mean to be a Modern Law Library?

By Michael Feit | Feit Consulting , Librarians , Modern Law Library , Resources

The Modern Library is a business within a business, utilizing metrics and analytics to forecast, predict and analyze data as changes occur. More than providing content, the Modern Law Library encompasses a proactive approach and mindset, developing new processes and collaborations to support the business of law. An important component to realizing a Modern Library is open-mindedness by both Administrators and the Library team.

To fully embrace the Modern Library approach, consider the following questions in your role with the Library (whether as a Librarian or an Administrator):

• What can I do differently to offer value to my organization and make them see me and my library in a new way?
• How can I change my habits to actually facilitate change?
• How can I move out of my mindset of but we have always done it that way?
• How can I change the way I work with various departments, my Administrator, my Librarian to support the business of law in an improved, more efficient way?

While law firms have always depended on library and information professionals to support the research needs of their lawyers, the Modern Law Library is undergoing a paradigm shift. Success now depends on the library taking a more active role in the organization, to help support the day-to-day business of law. One such way is providing interdepartmental support.

A few examples of this include:

• Embracing new roles in Conflicts Support for new business intake.
• Partnering with Marketing to provide competitive intelligence to support the RFP process.
• Partnering with IT to identify and beta-test software.
• Driving Knowledge Management.

Becoming a Modern Law Library is not done overnight, or in a week or month. It is complex and includes many little steps in order for a Law Library to modernize. In sum, the Modern Law Library is a trendsetter, evaluating and embracing new techniques, ideas and technology to help support business processes.

Feit Consulting offers Modern Library Audits, examining and recommending changes to save the firm/organization money, improve efficiencies, and maximize utilization of resources. Contact Feit Consulting today to set up a free consultation on modernizing your Law Library today.

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/

Don’t Be a Hostage to Your Vendor

By Michael Feit | Contract Negotiations , Sole Provider , White Papers

Perhaps your firm or organization has always operated with both Lexis and Westlaw. The option of eliminating may seem foreign. For other firms or companies, perhaps the idea of eliminating a vendor came up to close to negotiation deadline.

There are options! You don’t need to be a hostage to your vendor if you have enough time to evaluate the options. The evaluation process in itself can prove fruitful, sharing pertinent information that can be used in the negotiation process.

There are a great number of elements to examine, from contracts to content, not to mention the strong reactions of users to fundamental system changes. Lexis and Westlaw have both successfully infiltrated law firms’ cultures and infrastructures over their many years of service.

Time is money. Leverage it wisely.

By Michael Feit | Best Practices , Contract Negotiations , Pricing , White Papers

What leverage does your firm have going into contract negotiations?

Many firms wait until around three months prior for legal information contract expiration to come top of mind. However, if a firm can allocate more time for planning and evaluating its legal information resources’ value, the extra time creates a huge leverage for the firm. Firms that obtain market knowledge to compare their contract pricing, coupled with key metrics to assess contract resources’ value, will gain significant leverage in legal information contract negotiations.

Planning ahead with the right tools and knowledge is not only critical but absolutely necessary for success. Key leveraging points may include change in size of firm, ample time to make certain contracts co-terminus, firm-wide interest in the sole-provider option, usage and value of each legal information resource, to name a few. A multi-year plan allows one to know ahead of time what the firm’s goals are going into contract negotiations.

Feit Consulting’s latest report, Optimizing Legal Information Pricing, provides market intel to compare your firm’s contract pricing, as well as key leveraging points to utilize in your upcoming legal-information contract negotiation. This resource shares tactics to achieve optimization. It also shares how to optimize your legal-information pricing and terms with Lexis, Westlaw, Wolters Kluwer, BBNA, and other products.

Get ahead of the vendor’s strategy and timeline. Don’t wait to prepare. Optimizing Legal Information Pricing is a tool that will help your firm prepare in time with the essential leveraging tools to achieve success. Learn more here.