Tag Archives for " evaluation "

Jun 22

Is Sole-Provider the Best Option?

By Michael Feit | Sole Provider , White Papers

The sole-provider option is not for every firm, and largely depends on your firm’s legal practices, recovery rates, contract pricing, and usage. While the option may not be the right decision for every firm, an evaluation of the sole-provider option is necessary for law firm administrators.

The idea of transitioning to sole-provider can be daunting, considering the many individuals and processes that might be impacted. 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.

Whether or not a firm chooses to go sole-provider, the evaluation in itself provides an opportunity for a firm to review, revise and refine its legal information strategy and potentially save significant money. In a secret pricing market, knowledge is power. Knowing to what extent the sole-provider option is viable for your firm can serve as great leverage in contract negotiations.

Feit Consulting’s Sole Provider Viability Decision Guide walks legal information administrators through the pre-decision process, and lays out the groundwork necessary for informed decision-making. Learn more about this resource here.

Jun 20

Beyond the Price

By Michael Feit | Budgeting , Contract Negotiations , Pricing

Often times, the focus in legal information contract negotiations is the contract price. Securing a great price for the service and product offered is great, but only if the service and product offered match the firm’s legal information needs.

The first and most important step in optimizing your firm’s legal information resources and budget is a library audit. Evaluating and assessing how often resources are utilized is a key indicator of value. As practice groups come and go, information needs change and new products come to market.

The library audit can be conducted in various ways: from a high-level comb-over to evaluating each specific resource. If the latter, this can be a time-intensive pay-off. If your firm has not conducted a library audit in the last three years, it is worthwhile to take the time to do so now. If you don’t have time, consider outsourcing this task.

Understanding the use/value of your firm’s resources is essential to optimizing your firm’s legal information resource budget. Feit Consulting has encountered clients paying for resources that offer little value and have little to no use. When asked, firms share, “It costs so little.”

Don’t become a victim of paying for products the firm doesn’t use or need. Feit Consulting’s latest report, Optimizing Legal Information Pricing shares detailed steps and processes for achieving optimal results in legal information contract negotiations. Learn more here.

Jun 19

Value does not automatically increase 3-5% annually “just because”!

By Michael Feit | Contract Negotiations , Pricing , White Papers

Value does not automatically increase 3-5% annually for every product “just because”! To pay increases annually, it would be expected that the firm is receiving more value, content or features than the year before. Complacency or lack of diligence in managing information resources can have long-lasting unfavorable implications on both processes and costs, thereby hampering overall efficiency.

Feit Consulting’s Optimizing Legal Information Pricing shares steps for evaluating the value of your firm’s legal information resources, and arms decision makers with the necessary knowledge and leverage for negotiations. Feit Consulting’s benchmarks provide context for assessing the favorability of your contracts compared to the market.

Click here to learn more.

Jun 16

Don’t Be a Hostage to Your Vendor

By Kate | Sole Provider , White Papers

Many firms become a hostage to their vendor due to timing. The timeline for negotiating is dictated by contract expirations. Two or more years of dedicated planning allows for adequate time to evaluate the value of legal information resources and consider if vendor elimination or flipping to another vendor is an option. Your firm may get stuck with a vendor simply because there is not enough time to explore other options.

The idea of transitioning to sole-provider can be daunting, considering the many individuals and processes that might be impacted. 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.

An evaluation of the sole-provider option has become necessary for law firm administrators. Whether or not a firm chooses to go sole-provider, the evaluation in itself provides an opportunity for a firm to review, revise and refine its legal information strategy and potentially save significant money. Additionally, understanding the value of choosing either Lexis or Westlaw for your firm can be advantageous in negotiations.

The Sole Provider Playbook has been developed to be an all-encompassing guide, with tools to quickly determine the viability of the sole-provider option and how to actually execute it. If your firm first wants to only evaluate the sole-provider option, then the Sole Provider Viability Decision Guide is a great starting place. Click here to learn more about Feit Consulting’s Sole Provider Playbook.

Jan 15

Introduction & Purpose (Excerpt from The Sole Provider Playbook)

By Michael Feit | Sole Provider , White Papers

Vigorous debate continues regarding the viability of a large law firm successfully operating with just Lexis or just Westlaw. However, for the first time since the early 1990’s, retaining just one of these vendors has become the norm. Today, nearly 51% of large law firms have opted to retain only one vendor.

An evaluation of the sole-provider option has become necessary for law firm administrators. Whether or not a firm chooses to go sole-provider, the evaluation in itself provides an opportunity for a firm to review, revise and refine its legal information strategy and potentially save significant money.

In a perfect world, Lexis and Westlaw would publish retail pricing, and firms could pick and choose which products they wanted based on their practice needs and budget. This ideal world does not exist today, as both vendors have discontinued standardized pay-as-you-go retail pricing. Instead all they offer is secret pricing and terms that vary greatly from firm to firm.

The idea of transitioning to sole-provider can be daunting, considering the many individuals and processes that might be impacted. 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.

Yet, the pay-off in taking a deep look at these factors can be exceptional. A midsize U.S. law firm with favorable pricing will spend well over half a million dollars annually to retain both vendors. There was a time not long ago when firms could pass through online legal information costs to clients, making Lexis and Westlaw essentially free. That is no longer the norm. We have entered a new paradigm.

This is what inspired us to write the Sole Provider Playbook. It is intended to empower you and your firm to break free from the vendors’ shackles. In a world where every law firm is searching for efficiencies, the Playbook presents a clear path to savings. Our team of experts has carefully examined each step of the process, and we aim to provide a range of solutions to any obstacle whenever possible. Meant to be an all-encompassing guide, Playbook will provide your firm with tools to quickly determine the viability of the sole-provider option and how to actually execute it.

Order your copy today!

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