Tag Archives for " trend "

How did we collect data for Playbook?

By Michael Feit | Sole Provider , Surveys , White Papers

Several tools were utilized in obtaining data for our Sole Provider Playbook.

To capture the full-market view of the sole-provider trend, Feit Consulting collected and analyzed data from midsize and large law firms, with greater emphasis on large law. This report has been a collaborative effort, with subscribers’ concerns steering our research.

Data was collected through the following methods:

• Phone Interviews: Conducted from March 2016 through November 2016, with 105 firms. These interviews focused on the firm’s current legal information purchasing strategy and sentiments toward vendors.
• Surveys: Four surveys that provided the data shared in this report were conducted from March 2016 through December 2016. Surveys and respondents are as follows:
  • Associate Westlaw/Lexis Preference Survey, 238 firms responding.
  • Westlaw/Lexis Sentiment Survey, 127 firms responding.
  • Sole Provider Surveys (Customer Experience Survey & Concerns Survey), 116 firms responding.
  • Sole Provider Playbook Module: 13 dual-provider firms participated in the Module, allowing Feit Consulting to capture and investigate further more specific details related to concerns, questions, and hurdles associated with the sole-provider option.

Commoditization of Lexis & Westlaw

By Michael Feit | Sole Provider , White Papers

A product has been commoditized when there is no unique value that distinguishes it from competitors.

More simply put, a commodity is a product that can be substituted by another. Made by different companies, commodity products are similar in quality and results and are viewed as essentially interchangeable.

Even once-innovative products and services ultimately find themselves on the path to commoditization as they mature. Fierce competition motivates products to adopt their rival’s successful features, and therefore become more similar. While there may be preference for one or another, just like that of Coke and Pepsi, unique product benefits become less obvious.

In the world of legal information, Westlaw and Lexis have been and remain the market leaders. Until recently, midsize and large law firms universally believed that Westlaw and Lexis were complementary products. Each vendor had enough demonstrable unique content to support the notion that firms should retain contracts with both, particularly firms with diverse practice groups.

Over time, more firms began eliminating either Westlaw or Lexis, and the sole-provider trend emerged. Today, the percentage of large law firms with just one of these two providers is essentially 50%. The proverbial genie is out of the bottle. The market is demonstrating with its actions that Westlaw and Lexis are rapidly becoming interchangeable. Eliminating a vendor creates a great opportunity for firms to free up a large amount of resources and to enhance their legal information infrastructure with new products.

To quantify the extent and motivation behind the sole-provider trend, Feit Consulting conducted a comprehensive analysis of the entire large law firm market. This report concludes that Westlaw and Lexis are no longer complementary products. Rather, the retention of both of these vendors is an unnecessary luxury that most firms should forego.

Decline of Recovery Rates

By Michael Feit | Sole Provider , White Papers

___TVE_SHORTCODE_RAW__<p>Although there are likely several factors driving firms to choose a sole provider, there is a clear inverse relationship between the diminishing ability to recover online legal information costs and the movement to sole-provider.</p><p>Since recovery rates began decreasing in 2008, the percentage of sole-provider firms has been increasing correspondingly. The chart above illustrates this trend.</p><p>Learn more about these trends in our latest white paper, <em><strong><a href=”https://www.feitconsulting.com/trend-reports/westlaw-lexis-path-to-commoditization/”>Westlaw &amp; Lexis: Path to Commoditization</a></strong></em>.</p>__TVE_SHORTCODE_RAW___