We all knew that law libraries were shrinking. No one suspected that they would be totally “done in” by a virus. Law libraries have been “going digital” for at least 20 years, but few firms tossed out their last “pocket part” update. But as firms plan their post-pandemic re-openings, retaining a collection of shared books is frankly a biohazard. Should librarians develop systems for sanitizing and quarantining books? In today’s digital world -– is it even worth the trouble? 

Does anyone really want to take on the backlog of updating books that are nine months out of date next January when lawyers begin returning to offices?

For the past two decades, many law librarians have been assessing products and developing in-house solutions to support virtual library resources.  

There is no universal solution. The law firms which have the foresight to invest in strategic information professionals are most likely  to have had substantial digital libraries in place last March when COVID-19 brought the world to a screeching halt. Many firms are running parallel digital and print libraries because they are supporting both the last of the “baby boomer partners” and the “born digital” generation of lawyers. COVID-19 has been an unprecedented tipping point which exposes the importance of completing or starting a digital library transition plan.  

  12 Building Blocks Of A Digital Library  

Continue Reading 12 Tips For Building Your Digital Law Library In The Age Of COVID-19

Since 2011 Fastcase has been honoring 50 legal trailblazers each year.  Fastcase  describes the  award recognizing “pioneering people who have made important contributions to the legal profession, for practitioners and the public.” The honorees for the Fastcase 50 Class of 2020 represent a diverse group of lawyers, legal technologists, law librarians, judges, bar association leaders, legal innovators, and people who are passionate about reforming and automating the law.

I want to give a shout out to librarian colleagues:

Cynthia Brown, Senior Director of Research Services, Littler Mendelson

Michelle Cosby, Director of the Law Library and Associate Professor of Law, Temple University Beasley School of Law

Andre Davison, Research Technology Manager, Blank Rome LLP

Diana Koppang, Director of Research & Competitive Intelligence, Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP

Kim Nayyer, Edward Cornell Law Librarian and Associate Dean for Library Services, Cornell Law Continue Reading The 2020 Fastcase 50 List of Innovators, Visionaries and Leaders in Law

Today Feit Consulting is releasing a new report on the state of market for major legal  vendors: Thomson Reuters. LexisNexis, Bloomberg Law and Wolters Kluwer. I hesitate to even refer to the market as the legal research market because that completely ignores the dramatic integration of workflow, drafting, brief analysis and analytics into the 21st century progeny of the foundational case law research systems.The 2020 Legal Information Vendor Market Survey  was conducted between June and August 2020 and is targeted at law firms with 50+ attorneys. There were 104 responses: 26%(<100 attorneys), 56% (100-499 attorneys) and 20% >500 attorneys.The  The report provides context by comparing results to the 2018 survey results. These results will be include in an upcoming book Optimizing Legal Information Pricing which will be published this fall.

The one criticism I have of the report is that the report collects data on the importance of various products by vendor. Westlaw Edge is listed but not the prior Westlaw platform – which many respondents appear to still have. Since the time when the study was conducted Lexis has announced it’s new platform Lexis+ which will surely be a platform analysed in the next version of the study.Although Westlaw enjoys the greatest market share they are declining in customer satisfaction. Bloomberg Law and Wolters Kluwer are stand outs in improving customer satisfaction with 35% and 15%  improvements respectively.
 This is a must read for librarians, knowledge managers and C-Suite executives in law firms. Under the chart there is a link where you can click through and see customer comments.The report examines the following issues:

Continue Reading Read It and Weep: Feit Report – Which Major Legal Research Vendor is Plummeting in the Market?

Thomson Reuters has introduced Quick Check Judicial, a new Westlaw Edge feature within Quick Check. Although this new AI-based feature was designed for judges  it will also drive lawyer efficiency. Quick Check Judicial  allows users to upload multiple briefs or memos from a single matter to surface highly relevant authority that neither party included.  It also identifies which citations are cited by both parties or only one party and conducts and automated review of citations and quotations. 

  Quick Check Judicial provides the standard Quick Check efficiencies: checking validity and accuracy of citations and quotations. The comparison of multiple documents is a force multiplier which enables judges and lawyers to see a single report listing: authority relied on by both parties, providing a view into any overlap or divergence; finding relevant cases cited by neither party  and identify quotation discrepancies. 

Quick Check Judicial Outputs

The press release provides insights from a retired judge. Justice Randy J. Holland, retired, Delaware Supreme Court, noted the value Quick Check Judicial provides. “From a judge’s point of view, you want to be confident that you understand each party’s position and you want to be confident that you understand the state of the law. Quick Check Judicial allows you to do that efficiently and accurately.” 

Quck Check Report – Relevant Cases Excluded by Both Parties

  “In our conversations with customers, they reiterated the importance of ensuring that nothing is missed or omitted in their own documents, but maybe even more importantly knowing what different information was or was not used by opposing counsel,” said Carol Jo Lechtenberg, senior director, Westlaw Product Management. “Quick Check Judicial delivers that insight and more, all while saving a substantial amount of time for lawyers but proving equally as valuable for judges and law clerks by providing a holistic view of the matters before them.” 

Quick Check Quotation Analysis

 Westlaw Edge was developed by attorneys and technologists at the Thomson Reuters Center for Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Computing working together to apply cutting-edge AI technologies to attorney-authored content and powerful legal research tools. 

 Quick Check Use Cases. Quick Check launched in July of 2019 as part of  Westlaw Edge. In an earlier post I described the Quick Check use cases  which include:  Updating an old brief, quality checking a  working draft and  performing final check before submitting a brief to a court. Lawyers can also examine  an opponent’s brief and motions to gain insight into “omitted authority” or vulnerabilities. With the launch of Quick Check Judicial lawyers have been given a new tool for driving deeper analysis and eliminating the need for running multiple Quick Check reports on separate documents. 

 The technology behind Quick Check simultaneously analyses the structure of the document while executing several search strategies, crawling primary and secondary sources and following citation networks, leveraging the key number system, court and other data attributes. Quick Check normally completes its analysis in less than a minute. The Quick Check report enables and attorneys to quickly see a multitude of tags and indicators which validate the cited authorities or suggest additional or better precedents for each issue.  

Market Impact Quick Check Judicial  marks the second significant enhancement to Quick Check following the addition of Quotation Analysis in April. Although there has been quite a bit of activity in the brief checking market, Westlaw Edge Quick Check is the first to offer the simultaneous analysis of multiple documents. It is also a smart marketing strategy for Thomson Reuters to position a tool as helping judges  to  compare brief and memos submitted by each side  and quickly see which party “did their homework.”  A start up named Casetext created the brief analysis market with the launch of Cara. All the major legal research platforms ( LexisNexis, Bloomberg) and well as smaller competitors (Ross (Eva) and VLex (Vincent) have entered the brief analysis space. The law firms and their clients have benefited from the competitive forces driving efficiencies into traditional legal workflow.

 No additional Cost  In this time of belt tightening, existing Westlaw Edge customers will be happy to learn that Quick Check Judicial is available at no additional charge to all Westlaw Edge subscribers.  

 

Thomson Reuters has released new version of HighQ, its cloud-based productivity solution, with significant new features and integrations.  The new version, HighQ 5.4, offers powerful document automation with a new native Contract Express integration, AI-driven contract analysis, new mobile applications, Legal Tracker integration, and much more. When I saw a demo of HighQ last year – my first question was “when are you integrating it with Contract Express.”  The two products were meant to be merged and today they are. 

The HighQ 5.4 Dashboard

Thomson Reuters acquired HighQ, in July 2019.  Irish McIntyre, head of Legal Software and Workflow for Thomson Reuters is quoted in the press release: “Now, just a little over a year later, two market-leading Thomson Reuters software products are integrated with HighQ and we are introducing the most significant HighQ release to date. There are more than 100 new features or enhancements in the latest version to solve our customers’ biggest challenges and to help them work better virtually.”  The seamless Integration of Contract Express HighQ 5.4 brings the best of Contract Express and HighQ into a single solution. Contract Express now powers HighQ’s Document Automation. Contract Express templates can now be associated with HighQ sites and accessed to generate documents. These documents and associated data are stored natively in HighQ, enabling the user to integrate and establish workflows, collaborate, co-author, and utilize new data-visualization capabilities.   Continue Reading Thomson Reuters Launches HighQ 5.4: AI Contract Analysis, Visualization and Integration with Contract Express and Legal Tracker 

The entire federal judiciary including the U.S. Supreme Court, circuit, district and bankruptcy courts are getting access to Bloomberg Law. Today Bloomberg Law announced that they have entered into a multi-year contract with the Administrative Office of the US Courts (AO) which will provide the 20,000 legal processionals unlimited access to Bloomberg Law.  According to the press release the agreement “expands what was already a significant presence for Bloomberg Law since 2016 within the federal court system.” 

In addition to primary law such as cases, statutes and regulations, judges and court personnel will have access to the full suite of news, expert analysis, analytics and  business intelligence and financial data in the Bloomberg Law platform.  The press release highlights that “he platform’s breadth, historical coverage, current awareness, authority, and search methodologies will enable federal judiciary users to locate the information needed for the effective resolution of cases before the court.”Under the agreement, more than 20,000 legal professionals (judges, court librarians, staff attorneys, and law clerks) will have unlimited access to the Bloomberg Law advanced technology platform, which includes breaking news, expert analysis, and business intelligence and incorporates Bloomberg’s company and financial data. 

“Since 1933, Bloomberg Law has been covering the federal court system and we’re excited to bring our rich heritage with the courts to bear on supporting the legal professionals working within the federal judiciary,” said Joe Breda, President, Bloomberg Law. “With our ongoing commitment to investing in Bloomberg Law and adding new content and technology to the platform, we’ll continue to enhance the platform to meet the AO’s evolving needs.” 

For additional information about Bloomberg Law, please visit http://onb-law.com/SFtd50AmcJq. 

Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. has announced significant upgrades to to RBSourceFilings with RegReview,drafting tool which streamlines the SEC filing preparation process. Wolters Kluwer has been tracking securities rules and regulations for decades. Their Federal Securities Law Reporter was transformed into the Cheetah platform in —-. The company has continued to expand their securities practice offerings with additional innovative products that provide new insights and improve workflow including: M&A Clause Analytics, Capital Markets Clause Analytics 

 In case you cant remember what is included in RB Source Filings and RegReview, here is a breakdown:

 RBSourceFilings is a sophisticated research tool which provides advanced search and filtering of publicly filed SEC documents.  The solution introduces point-in-time redlining technology, integrated checklists, practical guidance, and workflow tools to help law firms and in house counsel to meet the challenges of rapidly changing regulations and ensure securities disclosure compliance. According to the press release RegReview is the “first [product] of its kind to integrate Continue Reading Wolters Kluwer Turbo-charges SEC Filing Process with RBSource with RegReview

 Lex Machina, a LexisNexis company, has announced the addition of almost 800,000 civil cases to ts federal district court coverage. According to the press release  this “gives users access to all commercially relevant federal civil cases in one place.”  Lex Machina had  previously grown its market share, segment by segment starting with the launch of the first Patent analytics module in 2010. There are now 16 practice modules covering  2 million cases. This is the first time they have made a  “non-topical” expansion of the database. All of the modules offer analytics about judges, law firms, attorneys, parties and districts as well as specialized analytics  for specific issues. 

 “With the addition of nearly 800,000 cases, Lex Machina is taking a major step forward in our mission to bring Legal Analytics to all areas of the law,” said Karl Harris, CEO of Lex Machina, “This is the most cases we’ve ever added to our system at one time, giving users new capabilities and insights into the entire court system.”  The new tranche of  nearly 800,000  offers new insights into a broader range of issues. The proprietary Lex Machina systems, including its Attorney Data Engine and Motion Metrics, analyse  all  the cases in the Lex Machina platform and  drive the additional insights with the expanded coverage. Enhanced capabilities include:   Continue Reading Lex Machina Launches Enterprise Platform Offering and Webinar Today

Casetext has released a study examining the efficiencies delivered by its new motion drafting platform Compose. Compose was announced this year at Legal Tech in New York. The product which I reviewed back in February enables a lawyer to select a motion types in specific jurisdictions, add arguments from a menu for the jurisdiction, select legal standards customized to the arguments and jurisdiction, add facts and authorities using the powerful Parallel Search technology and then customize the draft. The report is called “Increasing Law Firm Profitability using Compose Brief-Drafting technology” and is available at this link.

ROI Benefits of Casetext Compose

The study. Participants had never used Compose before. They were shown a 4 minute video and then asked to use the platform to draft a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction based on a complex set of facts. The study included 13 litigators at AmLaw200 firms and/or federal clerkship experience.Each participant was asked to provide an estimate of how long the assignment would take using their normal research process. They were given two hours to complete a draft the brief using Compose. Although two of the 13 could not complete the assignment in two hours the results were still impressive. Using Based on each lawyers estimate using Compose on average the group was 76% faster, saved 5.2 hours per brief and 92% of the lawyers reported reduced risk of missing an argument or a relevant case.

The report also explores the strategic and financial benefits  of Compose in terms of reducing write-offs, increasing the profitability of flat fee engagements, and reducing risk.

Kudos to Casetext  I have been begging vendors to measure the impact of their products. We all know that no study is perfect, but workflow studies do at least capture snapshots of experience which can be used in the product evaluation and justification process during procurement. At the end of the day if the product does not deliver actual efficiencies it will not survive the next budget round. I have repeatedly begged the largest vendors Lexis, Westlaw, Wolters Kluwer  and Bloomberg Law to produce ROI studies and I get a lecture on how complicated it is. Well now we have seen two small companies PacerPro (with Fireman & Company) and Casetext  release studies this summer which attempt to take on he admittedly gnarly challenge of measuring the  efficiency and ROI delivered by their product. Time for this to become an industry standard. The competition for budget money is intensifying and vendors need to start bringing their ROI to the negotiation table.

Here is a link to the Casetext Compose ROI report

PacerPro launched in 2014 with a simple overlay to the pacer system. In enabled firms to streamline the distribution of thousands of pacer filings to litigation teams and lower Their Pacer costs.  Cofounders Gavin McGrane, CEO and Anna McGrane, CoO have continued to expand the service and to explore how PacerPro can  be leveraged to integrate federal court data with knowledge and business systems in law firms.  Pacer dockets are full data points on judges, nature of suit, attorneys which can be tagged and linked to internal systems.The white paper includes and case study integrating this data to documents in a firm’s DMS system.

The McGranes worked with Fireman & Company  on a white paper “Knowledge Management with PacerPro.” which examines the benefits of PacerPro in streamlining workflow and driving new insights. Before PacerPro the routine distribution of Pacer documents related to a clients litigation, involved a 10 step process of clicking, labeling,saving and distributing. Worst of all, the same process might be duplicated across the team. And with all this clicking and saving, documents still might be missed… creating a malpractice risk.

The report includes case studies from 18 law firms and documents the benefits of PacerPro. The white paper is full of testimonials from law firm processionals who have implemented PacerPro. The report estimated that those firms received over 3 million PDFtoGo emails (replacing the manual processing) which represent 48,757 hours of time saved across those firms. 

 Firms participating in the white paper include: Baker Botts LLP; Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum & Nagelberg LLP; DLA Piper LLP (US); Durie Tangri LLP; Husch Blackwell LLP; Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP; Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick P.L.L.C.; Kramer, Levin, Naftalis & Frankel LLP; Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP; McKool Smith P.C.; Morrison & Foerster LLP; Reed Smith LLP; Richards, Layton & Finger, PA; Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P., Steptoe & Johnson PLLC; Susman Godfrey LLP; Winston & Strawn LLP; Shearman & Sterling LLP. 

The report is available at no cost at PacerPro and at Fireman.