Today  Bloomberg Law  is  announcing  a new access to justice initiative by offering 90 days of complimentary access to the Bloomberg Law platform though the Paladin platform which helps lawyers identify pro bono opportunities. This is the second access to justice initiative Bloomberg Law has announced since the start of 2021. Last week Bloomberg I  covered the announcement of their new partnership with the Legal Services Corporation to provide free access to Bloomberg Law. Kudos to Bloomberg and Paladin. Equal access to justice depends on equal access to  powerful tools  such as Bloomberg Law which streamline the  research process and track the constantly evolving landscape of federal and state  statutes, regulations, precedents and commentary.

Here is the full press release:

BLOOMBERG LAW TEAMS WITH PALADIN TO PROVIDE 90 DAYS’ COMPLIMENTARY ACCESS TO PRO BONO LAWYERS

 

Arlington, Va. (January 19, 2021) — Bloomberg Law today announced that it is now offering 90 days’ complimentary access to its legal research platform to pro bono lawyers through Paladin, a platform that helps lawyers connect with well-aligned pro bono opportunities more efficiently to help those who need it most.

With access to Bloomberg Law, Paladin’s pro bono attorneys can leverage:

  •  Full coverage of key federal and state legislation, regulations, and agency guidance issued as a result of the pandemic and economic crisis.
  • Practical Guidance, trackers, and chart builders covering various state and federal employment laws and regulations.
  • Litigation and transactional resources – market-leading dockets and AI-powered brief and drafting tools.

“Together, Bloomberg Law’s content and technology perfectly complements Paladin’s ability to seamlessly connect lawyers with pro bono work and worthy clients,” said Alex Butler, Vice President, Analysis & Content, Bloomberg Law. “With a vast array of resources across multiple practice areas, attorneys will be able to quickly access the information they need to support their clients.”

“Especially during such a crucial time of need, providing attorneys real-time access to resources that can help their pro bono clients is crucial to achieving the best outcome. We’re thrilled to be able to provide Bloomberg Law’s content to attorneys in our network,” says Kristen Sonday, Paladin’s Co-Founder and COO.

Paladin users can learn more about Bloomberg Law and request access to the platform at http://onb-law.com/JF3g50CRjxq.

 About Bloomberg Law

Bloomberg Law helps legal professionals provide world-class counsel with access to actionable legal intelligence in a business context. Bloomberg Law delivers a unique combination of comprehensive primary and secondary source material, real-time news, expert analysis, time-saving practice tools including Practical Guidance, market data, and business intelligence. For more information, visit pro.bloomberglaw.com.

 

About Paladin
Paladin is a justice tech company whose mission is to increase access to justice by helping legal teams run more efficient pro bono programs. Paladin works with AmLaw250 law firms, Fortune 500s, and bar associations to increase pro bono engagement, decrease administrative costs, and capture the organization’s impact. Read more at joinpaladin.com.

 

Today LexisNexis is announcing the launch of Lexis+ Litigation Analytics. Litigation Analytics does two things. It integrates analytics into the research and practical guidance  workflow.  Lexis+  now offers “enhanced analytics” from Lex Machina as well as state level analytics derived from CourtLink for the states that Lex Machina does not currently cover.
Karl Harris, C.E.O. of Lex Machina a offered me a demonstration of Lexis + Litigation Analytics.. Harris placed analytics within the context of the new workflow which was introduced with Lexis+.  Lexis+ includes a persistent navigation bar which today adds litigation analytics to the 3 original  pillars of,  Lexis + : workflow: research, practical guidance and brief analysis. The Lexis + home page  is designed around an inviting query “What would you like to research today”  hovering over a large search box.  Analytics are still fairly new to the average  lawyer’s toolkit and I think it is wise to remind lawyers about analytics throughout Lexis+ workflow experience..
Harris explained that the core goals of the Lexis+ enhancement was based on customer feedback which highlighted the importance of   accuracy confidence and efficiency in analytics products. In addition they wanted to  deliver an integrated product experience in what Lexis refers to as the Lexis+ ecosystem.

 Lexis+ Litigation Analytics offers the following types of insights:

  • Judge and court analytics: Contextualize understanding of federal district and state courts and judges.
  • Courts & Judges Comparator Quick Tool: Compare judge behavior and courtroom trends over time in federal district court.
  • Attorney and law firm analytics: Assess the experience of attorneys and law firms in federal district and state courts.
  • Counsel Comparator Quick Tool: Compare law firm and attorney performance based on actual results in federal district court.

Bifurcated Data: Enhanced Analytics and “everything else”

Continue Reading Lexis Adds Lex Machina and CourtLink Analytics to the Lexis+ Ecosystem

This week Thomson Reuters Institute and Georgetown Law Center on Ethics and the Legal Profession released their 2021 Report on the State of the Legal Market. It is always an interesting read but this year offered  a petri dish for the transformation of law firms in real time.  2020 was a perfect storm of pandemic, financial uncertainty, social change and political stress.
The Report adopts the theme of Malcolm Gladwell‘s meme-able book The Tipping Point. Contrary to the popular assumption that social change happens slowly and steadily over a period of time Gladwell argues with a metaphor that is equally appropriate for our present circumstances that in many cases change happens more like an epidemic. As he puts it ideas and products and messages and behavior spread like viruses do. Although forces of change may build slowly often a a singular set of circumstances triggers a profound change. The 2020 Report examines whether law firms have reached such a tipping point.
Growth in Profits Per Equity Partner
Some of the data  points highlighted  in the report :

Continue Reading 2021 State of the Legal Market Report – A Tipping Point For Law Firm Transformation?

Today  Bloomberg Law announced a major access to justice initiative by granting free Bloomberg Law access to all the  legal aid organizations supported by the Legal Services Corporation. LSA supports the delivery of high-quality civil assistance in every state, territory and the District of Columbia. LSC President Ronald S. Flagg is underscored the connection between access to information and access to justice in the press release. “Access to high-quality legal research resources is critical to the work America’s legal aid organizations do in serving people living in poverty across the country.” Kudos to Bloomberg Law. Has there ever been a greater urgency in assuring legal representation for the most underserved members of our communities?
Here is the press release:

Legal Services Corporation Grantees To Receive Complimentary Access To Bloomberg Law

January 11, 2021 9:44 AM

Arlington, Va. — Bloomberg Law today announced that it is now offering complimentary access to its legal research platform to all grantees of the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), supporting the delivery of high-quality, civil legal assistance in every U.S. state, territory, and the District of Columbia. Bloomberg Law provides grantees with full coverage of federal and state legislation, regulations, and key agency guidance, including legal issues related to the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting economic downturn.

Bloomberg Law offers a wealth of high-value resources and time-saving technologies such as Practical Guidance, trackers, and chart builders in practice areas such as labor & employment, health care, tax, and bankruptcy that legal staff in LSC grantee offices can utilize to aid the millions of Americans who have been impacted by the current pandemic. LSC grantees, as with all Bloomberg Law clients, will have access to Bloomberg Law’s Help Desk, which is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week by experienced legal professionals.

“We are very grateful to Bloomberg Law for offering complimentary access to its legal research platform to all the legal aid organizations funded by Legal Services Corporation,” commented LSC President Ronald S. Flagg. “Access to high-quality legal research resources is critical to the work America’s legal aid organizations do in serving people living in poverty across the country.”

“Bloomberg Law is committed to addressing the access to justice gap by providing our unmatched combination of legal content and technology to those representing low-income Americans, a population that has sharply increased due to Covid-19 and the economic downturn,” said Alex Butler, Vice President, Analysis & Content, Bloomberg Law.  “We look forward to working with these legal aid organizations on the front-lines of providing high-quality legal assistance to the many deserving families and individuals most in need.”

To learn more about Bloomberg Law visit http://onb-law.com/lPZP50CMcUv.

About Bloomberg Law
Bloomberg Law helps legal professionals provide world-class counsel with access to actionable legal intelligence in a business context. Bloomberg Law delivers a unique combination of comprehensive primary and secondary source material, real-time news, expert analysis, time-saving practice tools including Practical Guidance, market data, and business intelligence. For more information, visit pro.bloomberglaw.com.

About Legal Services Corporation
Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is an independent nonprofit established by Congress in 1974 to provide financial support for civil legal aid to low-income Americans. The Corporation currently provides funding to 132 independent nonprofit legal aid programs in every state, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories.

OK I am going to say it yet again. Legal news is Hot!. It is only the first week of January and I am announcing the third important change in the Legal News market in three days. On Sunday ALM announced that they were continuing their licensing agreement with Lexis on a non-exclusive basis. Today American Lawyer Media (ALM) and Bloomberg Law are announcing a new licensing agreement.

Bloomberg Law customers will  get access to ALM legal news and information, including more than 3,000 new pieces of original news reporting each month, archived news content, and data from ALM Experts and VerdictSearch. Sticking to their original promise of standard pricing – no surprises – the ALM content will be available to all Bloomberg Law subscribers at no additional cost.

ALM Experts is a database of over 15,000 listings of expert witnesses, investigators, process servers, court reporters, consultants and litigation support professionals from every region of the United States. ALM’s VerdictSearch, includes over 200,000 national and state cases. Both of these content sets will be integrated into Bloomberg Law.

Executives from both companies are quoted in the press release..“We are delighted to enter into this new partnership with Bloomberg Law,” said Richard Caruso, Vice President and General Manager, Global Legal News. “For Bloomberg Law customers, this will allow for a seamless experience to engage with ALM’s legal news, verdicts and experts content within the Bloomberg Law platform.”

“We’re excited to bring Bloomberg Law customers ALM content as part of our fully integrated platform, providing attorneys everything they need in one place,” said Joe Breda, president of Bloomberg Law. “Our investment in ALM’s content is one of many exciting additions for Bloomberg Law.”

The Hot Legal News Market – Today’s announcement is significant for representing a loosing of LexisNexis dominance on the legal news market. For the past decade LexisNexis has held a virtual monopoly on legal news  by providing exclusive access to not only ALM news but also, Law360 and the Wall Street Journal. In recent months, Westlaw announced the launch of Westlaw Today and Fastcase launched Law Steet Media. Yesterday even Lexis announced a specialty offshoot of Law360 called Law360 Pulse which will focus on the business of law.” Bloomberg had already signaled a commitment to enhancing their legal news with the recruitment of Lisa Helem from National Law Journal as their Executive Editor Strategic Initiatives.  Competition provides a powerful incentive for innovation and continuous improvement. The legal market is the winner here.

Here is the full press release:

ALM MEDIA AND BLOOMBERG LAW ENTER NEW CONTENT AGREEMENT

FOR LEGAL NEWS, VERDICTS, EXPERTS

 

ARLINGTON, VA (January 5, 2021) — ALM Media® (ALM), and Bloomberg Law today announced a new licensing agreement that will provide Bloomberg Law customers with ALM legal news and information, including more than 3,000 new pieces of original news reporting each month, archived news content, and data from ALM Experts and VerdictSearch. For more information and to schedule a demo of Bloomberg Law, visit http://onb-law.com/MdSe50CZuwE.

ALM is an authoritative source of news and insights on the legal industry. Bloomberg Law is the strategic provider of an advanced legal technology platform trusted by the country’s largest law firms, corporations, law schools and the U.S. courts.

Within the Bloomberg Law platform, ALM’s news content from brands such as The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, The National Law Journal, Legaltech News, and New York Law Journal, among others, joins reporting from Bloomberg Law’s newsroom of more than 200 journalists including correspondents based in key markets around the country and across the globe.

ALM Experts, a database of over 15,000 listings of expert witnesses, investigators, process servers, court reporters, consultants and litigation support professionals from every region of the United States, and content from ALM’s VerdictSearch, including over 200,000 national and state cases, will also be integrated into the Bloomberg Law platform as part of the new agreement.

These content sets supplement Bloomberg Law’s timesaving tools including Practical Guidance and In Focus pages, as well as AI-powered tools such as Brief Analyzer, Litigation Analytics, Docket Key search functionality, Points of Law, and Smart Code.

“We are delighted to enter into this new partnership with Bloomberg Law,” said Richard Caruso, Vice President and General Manager, Global Legal News. “For Bloomberg Law customers, this will allow for a seamless experience to engage with ALM’s legal news, verdicts and experts content within the Bloomberg Law platform.”

“We’re excited to bring Bloomberg Law customers ALM content as part of our fully integrated platform, providing attorneys everything they need in one place,” said Joe Breda, president of Bloomberg Law. “Our investment in ALM’s content is one of many exciting additions for Bloomberg Law.”

As with all enhancements to the Bloomberg Law platform, access to ALM content is available to current subscribers at no additional cost.

About Bloomberg Law

Bloomberg Law helps legal professionals provide world-class counsel with access to actionable legal intelligence in a business context. Bloomberg Law delivers a unique combination of comprehensive primary and secondary source material, real-time news, expert analysis, time-saving practice tools including Practical Guidance, market data, and business intelligence. For more information, visit pro.bloomberglaw.com.

 

About ALM

ALM, an information and intelligence company, provides customers with critical news, data, analysis, marketing solutions and events to successfully manage the business of business. ALM serves a community of over 6 million business professionals seeking to discover, connect and compete in highly complex industries. Please visit www.alm.com for more information, and visit www.alm.com/events/ to learn about our upcoming events. Please follow us on Twitter at @ALMMedia.

Legal publishers Casemaker and Fastcase are announcing a merger of their two companies. According to the press release ” The two companies will combine their teams and technologies to innovate research, analytics, and workflow offerings that empower lawyers with powerful digital solutions for their clients.”

I spoke with Ed Walters CEO of Fastcase yesterday. He stated that the merged Fastcase and Casemaker have the largest lawyer subscriber base of any legal research system. Since Fastcase and Casemaker together are available to every bar association in the United States – that means that virtually every lawyer in the US has access to Fastcase/Casemaker. So David suddenly has a larger lawyer user footprint than the Goliaths (Westlaw and LexisNexis).

In a refreshing departure from the usual post merger purges, Walters indicated that all of there will be no lay-offs since all personnel will be valuable assets in implementing the merger. I was also heartened  by a quote from Casemaker’s owner, Satish Sheth.  “The first thing we’re going to do, is what we always do, we’re going to put our customers first.” Sheth will become  a member of Fastcase’s Board of Directors.

Oddly enough, the merger is the biproduct of the contentious litigation between Fastcase and Casemaker. During the course of the litigation both parties realized how much they had in common. Walters explains how both parties began to wonder “why are we fighting?”

Both companies were born of a desire to democratize the law. Founder of both companies “have taken a similar trajectory in creating an affordable and widely accessible alternative to the global publishers that dominate American law by partnering with bar associations, who subscribe on behalf of their members. Each company has distinct strengths. Fastcase has acquired analytics (Docket Alarm), legal news (Law Street Media) and Brief analysis and AI (Judicata). Casemaker has a strong editorial team many former Michie editors working on fast and accurate analytics of state statutes and regulations across the United States. Casemaker also has an excellent citator.

The press release quotes Fastcase President and co-Founder, Phil Rosenthal: “It is clear how much more we can do together for our bar partners and firms,” said Fastcase President and co-founder Phil Rosenthal. “We have great appreciation for Casemaker’s editorial and production excellence and their deep understanding of the bar market. This merger is the culmination of more than two decades of effort to democratize the law and ensure that every lawyer in America can afford high quality legal research. Combined we can do so much more to address the access to justice crisis.”

A recap  of recent Fasecase  strategic roadmap includes the development “its Full Court Press publishing arm as well as the strategic acquisition of complementary products such as Docket Alarm in 2018, NextChapter and Law Street Media in 2019, and the technology and team of Judicata in 2020 – products and technology that can now benefit Casemaker subscribers.

“We’ve been selective in scaling and we’re so proud to see the Docket Alarm, NextChapter, and now the Judicata team rise as leaders in our organization,” said Ed Walters, Fastcase CEO and co-founder. “These leaders drive our emergence in a market needing more alternatives. With the hard-won editorial and production expertise of Casemaker, we’re now ready to accelerate our climb, rewarding all our bar partners who believed in our companies as strong alternatives.” More than 1 million lawyers subscribe to Fastcase and Casemaker, and the combined company will continue to support their subscribers and their subscriptions uninterrupted. “The combination of our two programs is long overdue, and now the fun really begins.

KaChing -The $$ Case for Replacing Westlaw or Lexis with Fastcase The combined company once integrated will be well positioned to erode Lexis and Westlaw market share – by offering a comprehensive suite of services at a substantially lower cost. The uncertainties of the post-pandemic economy  may be the perfect trigger for a radical reassessment of  multi-million dollar research platforms. Ka-ching – I think we will hear the sound of at least one ALM 100  law firm dropping Lexis or Westlaw in favor of Fastcase/Casemaker over the coming year.

Here is  link to the full press release.

I recent months I have repeatedly highlighted the renewed energy and competition in the legal news space. I never anticipated that LexisNexis would be joining their competitors in launching a new legal news publication. After all, LexisNexis controls the majority of the US legal news content (Law360, Wall Street Journal, New York Times and a non-exclusive license for American Lawyer Media content.) And yet today  LexisNexis is launching a new publication Law360 Pulse which will focus on the “business of law” and target readers in large and mid-sized firms as well as in house counsel.

Law360 Pulse is described in the press release as a “business of Law news service” including “ “the  award-winning journalism and research of Law360 with powerful data and analytics from Lexis+ to deliver unparalleled business of law coverage, timely insights and industry intelligence that help law firms and legal departments succeed.”

The service will offer 24/7 breaking news, business of law feature articles, surveys, rankings and reports on law firm practices and trends. The first report, titled Physical Space in a Pandemic: How Law Firms are Adapting, was issued today alongside a broader series on Continue Reading LexisNexis Launching Law360 Pulse–To Focus on the Business of Law

Today American Lawyer Media and LexisNexis announced the extension of their strategic alliance with a new content agreement. According to the press release, the agreement “lays the groundwork for expanding the integration of ALM content within LexisNexis legal research solutions.”

LexisNexis and ALM,  have an an exclusive agreement since 2011,  which made ALM’s iconic content including The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, The National Law Journal, Legaltech News, New York Law Journal and other specialty publications available through the Lexis+ and Lexis® legal research solutions and Nexis® Newsdesk. This extension ensures that current news from ALM will continue to be available to LexisNexis customers.

Breaking News: I also received an exclusive statement from Richard Caruso, General Manager, Global Legal News, ALM, stating that “Lexis no longer has an exclusive to our content archive, allowing us to open up licensing opportunities with other Legal research providers;  we are planning on announcing a new agreement very soon.”

What this means for Lexis and ALM subscribers:

  • Subscribers can now have a license with ALM that is not tied to their LexisNexis contract.
  • ALM will be handling their own sales and not relying on LexisNexis sale reps to manage their customer relationships.
  • ALM will soon be announcing that ALM content will be available though a second Legal research platform.

Market Impact This will offer some relief ALM 100 law firms who are  are rebelling against LexisNexis’ increasingly aggressive tying Continue Reading Breaking News: ALM Ends Exclusive Relationship with LexisNexis While Extending LexisNexis Alliance

I have ranked the most popular 15  Dewey S Strategic posts of 2020.It is no surprise to me that posts about the release of specialty COVID resources by major legal publishers dominate – 4 of the 15 stories. My annual “Hits and Misses” survey results  were covered in 3 of the 15 top posts. The emergence of new legal news products is also covered in 3 of the top 15 posts. The remaining posts cover new product launches and survey results.

I have also compiled a list of the top 15 posts  from the Dewey B Strategic archive which were the most read in 2020. This list appears after the 2020 popular posts list.

The Most Popular Dewey B Strategic Posts of 2020:

  1. Lexis Rides the “Insight Wave:” Launches  Lexis+ with New Look, Brief Analyzer, AI Search, Codes Compare and Loads of New Features
  2. Legal Publishers Roll Out Covid-19 Resources, Toolkits, Documents, Advice (Some Even Free)
  3. ALM Launching Legal Radar – Law350 Prepare for Incoming !
  4. Read It and Weep: Feit Report – Which Major Legal Research Vendor is Plummeting in the Market?
  5. Hits & Misses Part Two Top Cancellation Candidates: Lexis, Westlaw, Bloomberg Spending Under Scrutiny
  6. Hits and Misses Readers Choose Best New Analytics, Workflow and Law/Reg Comparison Tools
  7. Fastcase Brings Down the Legal News Paywall With Relaunch of Law Street Media – Market Disruption to Follow?
  8. A Major Legal Publisher Adds Local COVID-19 Ordinances and Orders
  9. FREE and Powerful: Wolters Kluwer Launches  Suite of COVID-19 Smart Charts Outside the Paywall.
  10. Data Wants to be Free (of Platforms) Thomson Reuters Releases APIs for Litigation Analytics and Practical Law
  11. Hits and Misses Part 3 – Blue J Legal AI Product Tops 2020 “Must Have” List
  12. Today Lexis+ Launches Lexis Announces Rebrands
  13. Casetext’s Compose AI Powered Drafting of Briefs and Motions – Lawyers Still Required
  14. New Covid-19 Resources From Fastcase, PacerPro, Tax Notes and PubK Law. Free Covid Resources From Westlaw and Bloomberg Law
  15. Westlaw Today – Thomson Reuters Launches a Legal News Platform –Offers AALL Program

Most read stories in 2020 from the Dewey B Strategic Archive:

  1. Bloomberg Law Returns to Predictable Pricing Model – Enhances Customer Cost Management  (July 8, 2019)
  2. Hits and Misses Part 4: Westlaw Edge — Hit, Miss or Hold Off? Customers Respond – Show me the ROI! (May 1, 2019)
  3. Bloomberg BNA Announces BIG Name Change Now: Bloomberg Industry Group (Sept. 3,1919)
  4. 10K Wizard Bites the Dust. Morningstar Directs Customers to Intelligize. Will Intelligize Enter the Workflow Race? (July 3, 2015)
  5. The Improbable Rise of Law360: What Lawyers Could Learn And Its Not Just the News! ( Aug. 13, 2013)
  6. “Westlaw Answers” Looks A lot Like AI to Me. Westlaw Releases Major New Features – And It’s All in Your Contract!(Apr. 1, 2016)
  7. Thomson Reuters to Layoff 3,200 Staff Through 2020, Close Offices and Eliminate Products – Which Legal Products Might Die? (Dec. 5,2018)
  8. Black’s Law Dictionary 10th Edition: Making Everything Old New Again. Why Legal Dictionaries Still Matter ( May 9, 2014)
  9. A “Computer” Was Originally a Job Title: The History of Computing Timeline ( Sept. 27, 2012)
  10. Move over ALM and Law360 – LexBlog is Launching a Legal News Network (Sept  10, 2018)
  11. Will a Robot Take My Job? Study Predicts Increased Demand for Lawyers and Librarians Through 2030 (Oct. 10, 2017)
  12. What Do Law Firms Need to Know About Buying Litigation Analytics Products? (July 28,2018)
  13. Thomson Reuters Launches Westlaw Edge Quick Check Raising the Bar for A.I. DrivenBrief and Citation Insights(July 12, 2019)
  14. Martindale Hubbell: Another Legal Icon Bites the Dust. But It Was Once Worth Its Weight in Gold (and Held for Ransom)(Jan. 9, 2014)
  15. The Law Librarians Revolt: AALL Accuses LexisNexis of Engaging in Unfair Business Practices – Possible Antitrust Violations (June 7, 2018)

We were all blindsided as 2020 unfolded, yet the momentum of technological change and innovation assured a steady stream of new products. I have identified five trends, which I have divided into three categories: unforeseeable, continuing and surprising.

The trends I believe are worth noting — Unforeseeable: COVID-19 impacts; Predicable: state court analytics and innovative workflow tools; Surprising: legal news re-emerges as a competitive focus among major legal publishers and tech marketplaces emerge.

Unforeseeable: COVID-Related Trends

COVID alone triggered four subtrends:

  • The emergence of local law and ephemeral publications. Major legal vendors were no more prepared to track county level health department issuances and Governors’ executive orders than the average law firm. To make things worse these “documents” were issued in a myriad of social media formats, texts, tweets, Facebook pages … . What’s a law firm to do?
  • Librarians and KM professionals stepped into the vacuum and established protocols for locating and harnessing the untidy universe of COVID-19 ephemera.
  • Law firms became publishers of original COVID-19 resources (leveraging the local documents harnessed by librarians).
  • Legal publishers turned out an unprecedented number of free legal resources covering COVID-19 issues. I covered this trend in an earlier ATL post.

Continuing Trends: State Court Analytics And Workflow Tools

Workflow Tools

Continue Reading 5 (Unforeseeable, Predicable, And Surprising) Legal Tech Trends In 2020