This morning Bloomberg Law will be releasing one of its more significant new practice centers., a Tax Practice Center. With this release Bloomberg is leveraging some of the  “crown jewels” which it acquired in the purchase of the Bureau of National Affairs.
 Greg McCaffery, Bloomberg Law CEO is quoted in the release: “This is a critical time for tax attorneys as the tax implications of new legislation are great, and we could see in 2013 the first overhaul of the tax code since 1986.The Tax Practice Center on Bloomberg Law provides tax professionals with an enhanced suite of research tools and relevant information to help them address these challenges, and ultimately provide their clients with well-informed solutions to even the most complex tax issues.”

Tax Lawyers Are Different

When I became a large firm librarian 30 years ago, I learned that Tax lawyers were the most intense users of their specialized research resources. Tax lawyers often assumed the role of “Library Partner” in order to assure that their  practice information needs were protected. It will be an interesting test to see if Bloomberg Law can erode any loyalty to the well entrenched CCH  (Wolters Kluwer) or RIA  (ThomsonReuters) tax products.
One particularly interesting feature is the linking of tax content to Bloomberg’s corporate and Dealmaker information. Given the current  push in improve lawyers workflow to drive efficiencies, the linking of business and tax resources in one platform, could prove to be a very unique and compelling value proposition.
The No “Pay Wall” Advantage

While Lexis and Westlaw both have developed online  tax practice centers, they have had the disadvantage of being behind the “pay wall.” The “pay wall” has always been unworkable for lawyers who literally work inside their codes and regulations all day long.

Bloomberg Law is similar to CCH and RIA in offering a full array of tax practice materials in an unlimited search desktop platform. The  Bloomberg Law Tax Practice Center integrates in-depth analysis, commentary, practice tools, news, case law and other primary sources. The “big hook” may be the presence of the well entrenched BNA resources, The Daily Tax Report and the Tax Management Portfolios which have been key adjuncts for even devoted users of CCH or RIA tax products.

The Good News: No January Budget Surprise

I know, you just finished your 2013 budget. If you are currently a Bloomberg Law subscriber, the good news is that you are not now faced with a :January budget surprise. Bloomberg Law subscribers automatically get access to all new content added to Bloomberg Law at no additional cost.

The Press Release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 15, 2013

CONTACT

Jill Goodkind

+1 212-617-3669

jgoodkind@bloomberg.net

BLOOMBERG LAW INTRODUCES TAX PRACTICE CENTER

The Latest Addition to the Innovative Research System Provides

Unparalleled Resources to Tax Practitioners

New York, January 15, 2013 – Bloomberg Law, the legal and business intelligence research system from the world leader in data and information services, today announced the launch of its Tax Practice Center. The Tax Practice Center integrates in-depth analysis, commentary, practice tools, news, case law and other primary sources, to give attorneys a comprehensive, nuanced understanding of the critical issues in tax law.

The Tax Practice Center delivers the tools and resources busy tax practitioners need to stay informed, navigate the latest changes to the tax code and communicate implications to their corporate and individual clients. Designed to streamline the research process for tax practitioners, the Tax Practice Center features unlimited access to an integrated suite of primary law and trusted secondary sources, such as Bloomberg BNA’s Daily Tax Report® and an extensive library of transaction and topic-specific Portfolios, which contain practical guidance written by leading practitioners and academics. All Bloomberg Law users now have access to the Tax Practice Center as part of their subscription.

“This is a critical time for tax attorneys as the tax implications of new legislation are great, and we could see in 2013 the first overhaul of the tax code since 1986,” said Greg McCaffery, Bloomberg Law CEO. “The Tax Practice Center on Bloomberg Law provides tax professionals with an enhanced suite of research tools and relevant information to help them address these challenges, and ultimately provide their clients with well-informed solutions to even the most complex tax issues.”

The Tax Practice Center features an enhanced Internal Revenue Code (featuring Bloomberg BNA editors’ notes), relevant practice tools and working papers; and integrates news, analysis, other primary sources and business information to give practitioners a fuller context for strategic scenario analysis. Also, as part of the Tax Practice Center, subscribers can quickly and easily access other uniquely positioned content sets, such as dockets, analysis and treatises, including Practising Law Institute (PLI) treatises.

Key functional features of the Tax Practice Center include the ability to research related primary and secondary sources with ease to save practitioners research time. Secondary sources from BNA, including Portfolios and other analysis, are clearly linked to primary resources including Internal Revenue Code, Public Laws and Treasury Regulations. Moreover, practitioners can find important documents using citation and Portfolio numbers with easy “Go To” search functionality. DealMaker Document Search offers model tax agreements and clauses, and practitioners have access to tax forms from the IRS.