Tag Archives for " Westlaw "

If Lexis and Westlaw were new today, would your firm purchase both?

By Michael Feit | Budgeting , Sole Provider

Imagine if Lexis and Westlaw were new products today, offering your firm the same subscription price you already have. Would you really purchase both? Most would argue that these products are far too close in total content to need both. Yet, many firms still have both of these vendors. This duopoly paradigm has been in place since the early ’90s, and has become the norm in law firms.

Historically, nearly all firms retained both Lexis and Westlaw because the majority of costs could be passed through to clients. The recession forever changed the dynamics of the online legal information market for both vendors and firms. Firms started to see their sophisticated corporate clients closely scrutinizing costs and refusing to pay for online legal research. Now that recovery rates have greatly diminished, firms are being forced to evaluate their need to retain both vendors.

Busting the Wexis Duopoly

By Michael Feit | Sole Provider , White Papers

The Lexis and Westlaw duopoly has been broken. More than 50% of large law firms have made the choice to eliminate either Lexis or Westlaw. The norm of having both Lexis and Westlaw has officially ended. For firms who currently have both Lexis and Westlaw, how do you assess whether the sole-provider option is right for your firm? And if so, how do you implement this huge-change management decision? The Sole Provider Playbook is an essential resource for law firm administrators to assess the viability of the sole-provider option. This step-by-step guide details what components to include in your business plan, from the cost/benefit analysis and content hurdle issues, to making a recommendation to firm management. The Playbook includes checklists, detailed processes, hurdles and solutions, a sample presentation and much more. This is a must-have tool for every law firm administrator.

Click here to learn more about The Sole Provider Playbook.

The Sole-Provider Option: Is it worth it?

By Michael Feit | Sole Provider , Surveys

Feit Consulting conducted surveys with firms who currently are sole-provider or had only Lexis or only Westlaw in the last three years. We were surprised with the satisfaction rates. Out of 89 sole-provider firms surveyed, 82 characterized their experience as excellent or satisfactory (better than neutral). Only three firms characterized their experiences as less than satisfactory. The surprisingly strong satisfaction rate for sole-provider firms drives home the point that firms can operate exceedingly well without having these two duplicative vendors.

Are you in the 81%?

By Michael Feit | Surveys , Vendors

Pre-WestlawNext, law school preference was roughly

55% Westlaw/45% Lexis.

Feit Consulting conducted a random survey of 238 associates.

This year, 81% of surveyed associates who indicated a preference prefer Westlaw, compared to 19% for Lexis.

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.

Product Life Cycles of Lexis and Westlaw

By Michael Feit | Vendors , White Papers

There are four stages in the product life cycle: Introduction, Growth, Maturity, and Decline. As a product or service evolves over its life cycle, so does its business strategies.

Feit Consulting’s recent report, Path to Commoditization, depicts how Lexis and Westlaw have progressed through their respective life cycles and the corresponding impact on pricing strategies. It examines the various strategies and tactics deployed by the vendors at each different stage.

The charts above illustrate Feit Consulting’s respective representations of Lexis and Westlaw, in relation to the timeline of their product life cycles since 1990.

More information about this report is available here. Limited time offer: 35% off the Westlaw & Lexis: Path to Commoditization report. Use discount code PATH35 when ordering.