On
January 1st the Bloomberg Law’s executives and sales team relocated from the
Bloomberg Headquarters on Lexington Avenue in NYC to the BNA Headquarters in
Arlington Virginia.. Does it signify a
shift in power, a shift in strategy, a shift in culture or all three? I met with BloombergBNA
CEO Greg McCaffery to discuss the implications of the relocation and
BloombergBNA’s plans for the future.
Bloomberg
and BNA are a fascinating “odd couple” in the legal publishing world. Bloomberg Law is brash, edgy and data driven.
BNA is bow ties and bifocals with a long
history of legal and regulatory reporting and analysis. No doubt facets of each culture are
co mingling to create a new organization. Elements of Bloomberg ambiance have been introduced at the BNA
offices. Like the Bloomberg Mothership in NY they have an all
day “pantry” with coffee,
snacks, fruit, yogurt. They have begun renovating the office space and building glass walled conference rooms to be more open
like the New York office.
Greg
McCaffery became the CEO of Bloomberg BNA in September 2012. After 16 months at Bloomberg
headquarters in New York, he’s proud to be bringing BLAW back to the BNA
headquarters. McCaffery joined BNA in 1986 as a reporter on the staff of BNA’s
Chemical Regulation Reporter He covered polymer regulation at the EPA and then
moved over to the labor and employment side of BNA. He later became editor and manager
on Daily Labor Report, before moving into product development, and finally to
the business side or the organization. Greg brings a unique understanding of
both Bloomberg and BNA to the role – with a career at BNA of more than 26
years.
Is this
change a reorganization or a relocation?
McCaffrey: It’s a relocation. It made strong sense to concentrate the
organization around its center in the DC area, and also to move our sales and
client engagement staff into the communities they serve all around the country.
The creative synergies being realized from having our BLAW staff physically
sitting with BBNA’s content experts are massive.
Why are these changes happening now?
McCafferry:
Bloomberg took its time to learn BNA. There is a lot of respect of the BNA culture and the integration went smoothly. The joining of Bloomberg Law and Bloomberg BNA into a
single subsidiary, announced in July, is now complete. This complex transition
has been seamless for clients. Access to Blaw and BBNA products have not
changed. Bloomberg Law is the “flagship” product. You can continue to
subscribe directly to BNA products, but a single Bloomberg Law subscription
includes access to all BNA content
How will these changes impact Bloomberg Law
and BNA customers?
be even better. We are following the BNA model – sales account executives are
regionally based to provide even more specialized customer service. Account
executives have been fully trained and can help clients with all products– BLAW
and BBNA.
-
· All invoices for Bloomberg Law and Bloomberg
BNA will now come from BBNA – and clients can have their invoices consolidated
if they choose.
-
The
Bloomberg Law Helpdesk will remain staffed 24/7 with knowledgeable and
experienced legal professionals – including attorneys and law librarians.
-
· Whether
you call the Bloomberg Law Help Desk or Bloomberg BNA Customer Service – the
experienced staff will put you directly in touch with the appropriate
representative.
integration of the two cultures drive Innovation and product improvement?
had this incredible depth of expertise and Bloomberg has the technology, data
and analytics that few if any companies can rival.·The
combination makes BBNA an incredibly powerful market force – not just more
efficient, but more insightful. BBNA will be better positioned in both the
vertical/niche information markets where it has excelled for decades, as well
as the legal research and business intelligence space, which Bloomberg Law has
helped to reinvent. We are bringing the Bloomberg strengths in data and
R&D into BBNA, where, when meshed with editorial skill and knowledge,
true innovation is possible.· We are introducing advanced and search tools that allow practitioners to do more than pull up a verdict or
settlement but to easily see related news and cases or apply sophisticated
filters.
Centers with integrated analytics on top of deep knowledge
Bloomberg’s data enhancements to BNA resources can be seen in the BBNA
Resource Centers.
The Labor and Employment Law Resource
Center now has an Arbitration Award
Navigator ·The Navigator allows practitioners to conduct complex filtered
searches on a repository
of arbitration data extracted from 20,000 arbitration awards. Lawyers
can assess trends, evaluate arbitrators,
and view fact patterns in awards to develop an optimal strategy for an upcoming
arbitration. ·12 different variables including case name,
arbitrator, topic, union, employer, industry, classification outline number,
and more, to allow users to filter and sort an expansive and growing collection
of more than 20,000 arbitration awards
described a new focus on customizable, real time information that allows a
practitioner to be “the first to know.”
This is real time awareness is combined with advanced analytical tools. that will help a lawyer spot emerging trends which will impact clients and potential clients.
In
the coming months BBNA will be introducing “big data” solutions integrating
analytics on top of a deep well of legazationl analysis and business data. The ultimate goal will be to provide trending and predictive analysis.
Although Bloomberg Law offers some very innovative features which weave legal and business information together, lawyers and librarians have been slow to embrace the product. The realignment of the organization in the BNA editorial headquarters may lend some “gravitas” and legal street cred to the Bloomlberg Law brand.
Related: Bloomberg Law Gets BNA’s Intellectual Capital in the Capitol.
Bloomberg Law Rebrands: BBNA Let the Mashups Begin
Greg McCaffrey Named Bloomberg Law CEO: Headed Toward the Business of Law