Large law firms are often told by their legal information vendor to “take it or leave it”.
Recently, some firms have taken the vendor’s assertion literally and the negotiations stop there.
We find this surprising.
With such a limited market, the vendors do not want to lose any big law firm. If your law firm has more than 100 attorneys, you have plenty of leverage to negotiate. It is important to be reasonable in negotiations, and remember a good contract is mutually beneficial.
Firms' Do's and Don'ts:
1) Don’t believe the vendor when they say “take it or leave it”.
2) Do be persistent.
3) Don’t only go to the top of the vendor’s organization, it won’t necessarily get results. You are much more important to your region's budget than a senior executive of a vendor.
4) Do use a multi-faceted approach. Much of the legwork is done by your local account team.
5) Don’t ask too soon (too far in advance of your contract end date).True leverage doesn’t begin until near the last month of the contract.
6) Do make reasonable requests, backed up by data.
If you feel your firm is being held hostage by a vendor, remember your firm has choices. Gain insight into pricing metrics and market benchmarks in Feit Consulting's upcoming white paper, Optimizing Legal Information Pricing. Another option is to develop the business case to determine if the sole provider is the best option for your firm.
The Sole Provider Playbook is a step-by-step guide for assessing, deciding and transitioning to sole provider. Remember, your firm has options; "take it or leave it" doesn't have to be one of them.