Less than three weeks ago Thomson Reuters announced layoffs that impacted many Thomson Reuters executives and staff who I have known for years. I had at least two conversations with high level executives at Thomson Reuters since that time who assured me that the layoffs were done. I suppose this means there was an unspoken footnote in their declarations – as in… “there would be no more layoffs in 2018?” The Minneapolis Star Tribune posted an article stating that there would be no more  layoffs at the Egan, Mn. Headquarters of the legal business. According to  multiple news source including CNN,  “the news and information company is drastically shrinking its staff, cutting 3,200 jobs and closing 55 offices by 2020. Reuters says it will employ roughly 23,800 people — down from its current workforce of 27,000.” This announcement was made yesterday during an Thomson Reuters  annual investor day in Toronto.

Thomson Reuters offered CNN the same statement they gave me three weeks ago regarding the earlier  layoffs. “Thomson Reuters is routinely looking at ways to run our global business operations more efficiently and effectively. This disciplined approach sometimes includes the need to make personnel, or other, changes which allow us to balance our internal resources with the needs of our customers in a highly competitive environment.”

Thomson Reuters Needs To Manage this Message

It is not immediately clear what this means for the legal market. But two possible implications are:

  • Client support could  decline. Continuous churn in sales and support staff impacts the expertise of the client support teams.
  • Products could shrink but costs will not.  This could take the form of both stealth and overt product changes. It is not just that products could be eliminated but the scope of editorial materials or other content could be reduced  although labeled as the same product. It sometimes takes the keen eye of a regular user to detect content changes.

I urge TR executives to get out in front of these news reports and advise their customers what this means for their suite of legal products and product support. Under the new capital restraints where will they focus their  product development dollars?

What are the vulnerable TR Products? West KM Comes to Mind
Off the top of my head the most vulnerable TR Legal product that comes to mind is WestKM. I am sad to say this. That was a product “ahead of its time”  — it should have owned the KM market.  It was developed before the recession of 2008 but neglected for so long — at one point it was transferred over to the Elite accounting division of TR for reasons that defy comprehension – probably to help some executives personal compensation package. Investment and  technical support from the company  languished so long that WestKM couldn’t compete effectively when law firms began tripping over themselves to find products to help them drive efficiency. Here’s another clue – at least two of the executives associated with the West KM product were “let go” in the prior round of layoffs.
What products do you think are at risk? Email me at jogdc1@gmail.com or post a comment below.

 

 

Yesterday Lex Machina announced the launch of a newly expanded Contracts Litigation module which includes 45,000 new cases which resulted in the awarding of $4 billion in damages. Lex Machina now offers insights into more than 130,000 commercial and non-commercial cases pending in federal district courts since 2009. New cases include individual, class action, and government lawsuits.This release upgrades and replaces the Commercial Litigation module which was released in June of 2017.

The module offers the standard Lex Machina insights into case timing, resolutions, findings, damages, and remedies, as well as insights into on opposing counsel, law firms, parties, judges, venues and other data that can inform litigation strategy or a pitch meeting.

The press release highlights the following insights:

  • Findings go beyond breach of contract and include unjust enrichment, conversion, fraud, tortious interference, defamation, and breach of fiduciary duty.
  • The practice area includes nearly 2,000 cases that resolved at trial and over 6,500 cases that resolved at summary judgment, over 8,000 cases at default judgment, and over 1,400 on consent judgment.
  • A breach of contract claim was evaluated by the court in over 18,500 cases.
  • Using a Franchise Agreement case tag, users can see about 6,500 cases relating to franchise agreement litigation, including both business and individual franchisees.
  • Overall damages for the Contracts litigation module are over $2.2 billion, with over $1 billion in Class Action Settlement Damages.

Lex Machina in the market– Lex Machina is facing increasing competition in the analytics area. Lex Machina has taken a slower topical approach in which they leverage AI, machine learning and human expertise to curate a subset of cases in a specific area of litigation. They currently covers 13 areas of law (Antitrust, bankruptcy, contacts, copyright, Delaware Chancery Court, Employment, ERISA, Insurance, Patent, Products Liability, Securities, Trademark and Trade Secret litigation. They provide the most sophisticated product on the market for the areas they cover. Competitors such as Westlaw Edge, Bloomberg Law and Fastcase DocketAlarm offer data across all federal cases, but they rely on the Pacer’s Nature of Suit (NOS) code which does not adequately describe a large number of federal suits. Although Lex Machina analytics on fewer topics than their competitors, Lex Machina has the advantage of offering the most sophisticated filters and visual displays. However, since the market is changing quickly – they will face increasing pressure to add new modules at a faster clip.

Law360 and Lex Machina (both owned by LexisNexis) have created a new award recognizing lawyers “who are using data and analytics to dream up new ways to meet the challenges of their practice” The  2018 Data Driven Lawyer award recipients are Eric Falkenberry DLA Piper; Scott Forman, Littler Mendelson PC ; Kate Gaudry, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP; Evan Moses, Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC and. Kyle Poe, Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP.

Josh Becker, the head of Lexis legal analytics and chairman of Lex Machina, describes the data drive lawyer as “ the lawyer of the future. “This is still very early days and these pioneers are critical. They’re evangelists within their firms and they bring data with them each step of the way.”

I became a librarian because I was interested in books not bytes and big data. But I saw the power of data emerge from the most primitive dial-technology — a Texas instruments dumb terminal with an acoustic coupler attached to a telephone handset. Early systems called Dialog and  Orbit could deliver fascinating data which exposed patterns of human activity or industrial insights.

I have been a vocal evangelist of the place data in legal practice for almost 30 years but it is only the past few years that a clear business case and the right tools emerged  to help lawyers gain actionable data insights for both the business and practice of law. Lawyers continued to shun online research in favor of  the slower and less current information in digests and reporters. At some point the use of analytics will move from offering  a competitive advantage to being an ethical imperative.

Learn more about Data Driven Lawyer Initiatives:

Law 360 will be running a series of articles in which the award winners are interviewed. In addition, Lex Machina and Law360 will host a live webcast  with all of the data driven lawyer recipients on Dec. 12.

 

 

Over the past decade as LexisNexis snapped up one innovative product after another, I repeatedly begged Lexis executives to weave these new assets into the LexisAdvance research platform. The good news is that they are moving ahead with integrating Ravel content in Lexis Advance. The bad news is that the spunky and disruptive Ravel brand will recede into the past as it is reborn as  Context within the Lexis Advance platform.

When I first reviewed Ravel Law, I marveled at the boldness of the Founders’ vision. Nic Reed and Daniel Lewis graduated from Stanford Law School and then hooked up with some folks at the Stanford Design School with the goal of reinventing the legal research process. My original post Ravel Law: Legal Research Radically Reimagined included this observation: “For those of us who learned research using taxonomical hierarchies, viewing research results on Ravel is like landing in an alternate universe. Interpreting  Ravel search results requires the learning a “visual language” of a new research landscape.”  The bold vision remains, but  the brand we knew as Ravel is Continue Reading LexisNexis Relaunches Ravel Law as Context: Analytics on Judges and Expert Witnesses With Daubert Scorecard

Bloomberg Law has added attorney analytics to their suite of litigation analytics which has included  analytics for companies, law firms and judges. Product Manager, David Kleiman provided me with a demo and responded to my questions. As law firms  embrace analytics for business intelligence, pitches and litigation strategy it is more important than ever for have a clear understanding of the parameters of all analytics. How complicated that it be – as you will see below – there are lots of issues which impact the results delivered by every analytics product.

What attorneys are covered?

The attorney analytics includes analytics for 100,000 attorneys from  775 law firms. The analytics in Bloomberg  Law  are limited to cases involving  the representation of companies in federal courts from January 1 2007 to the present. Attorney names are extracted from docket sheets. There is a “type ahead” feature when typing a lawyer name a list Continue Reading Bloomberg Law Adds Attorney Litigation Analytics

Today Thomson Reuters issued a press release announcing that more than 1,500 organizations have upgraded from Westlaw to Westlaw Edge. I guess you can’t begrudge Thomson Reuters trying to change the subject.  On Tuesday I wrote about the re-organization that Has led to the layoff of countless seasoned executives, managers and staff across the organization.

I wish today’s press release provided more demographics about the 1,500 customers. It is not clear how that breaks down among government, corporate and law firm customers. Only two ALM 100 firms are named in the press release. There could be other ALM 100 firms which have a policy not to allow the firm’s name to be used in marketing materials.

I  wrote about the significant new features offered in Westlaw Edge when it was released in July of this year. This new platform represents Thomson Reuters largest investment in Artificial Intelligence since 2010.  Westlaw Edge  features include advanced natural language answers,  a completely new analytics product, an innovative new citation feature “Citation Risk Analyzer” and “Statutes Compare.”

New Features The press release also highlights that since the launch of Westlaw Edge in July Thompson Reuters has continued adding new content and functionality. New features Continue Reading Changing the Subject from Layoffs – Thomson Reuters Celebrates 1,500 Westlaw Edge Subscribers – Still Faces Market Resistance and The Challenge of ROI.

If you have any friends at Thomson Reuters Legal – it is time to reach out and reconnect. Over the past few weeks multiple sources have confirmed  to me that executives, managers and staff across TR have been “invited to find new employers.”  Some of the people impacted have been fixtures in the legal publishing and tech industry for Continue Reading Widespread Layoffs at Thomson Reuters Legal – Office Closings to Follow

Fastcase continues its content expansion strategy. Today they are announcing a new partnership with James Publishing. James Publishing, founded in 1981, publishes  legal practice materials  including model pleadings, client letters, and step-by-step procedural checklists, pattern arguments, model questions,  and practice tips. According to their website they focus on federal practice as well as practice in New York, Illinois, Texas, Florida and California.

Fastcase launched in 1999 as a lower cost online service provider of US primary law in 1999.  In recent years they have pivoted  toward becoming a full service legal research  and analytics platform. This transformation has accelerated over the past two years. In mid 2017 they hired Steve Errick, a seasoned legal publishing executive as COO. This was followed by the launch of a Fastcase print imprint Full Court Press, the acquisition of the Docket Alarm legal analytics platform and  the Legal Street news platform They have announced multiple alliances with secondary source publishers including, The Littler law firm, Wolters Kluwer,  and most recently an alliance with the  American Immigration Lawyers Association to  launch  a new scholarly journal on immigration law.

Getting Access It appears from the press release that the digital version of the James Publishing library which includes 90 titles,will be available as an add-on subscription from Fastcase. James Publishing titles will also be available  in print or ebook format  for purchase through the Fastcase Publishing arm Full Court Press.

Here is the full press release:

Fastcase Expands Law Libraries with Titles From James Publishing

Additional Treatises and Practice Guides Now Available Through Fastcase

 

Washington, DC  (November 8, 2018) – Legal publisher Fastcase today announced a partnership with James Publishing, a leading publisher of legal treatises, books, and practice guides, to include the entire James Publishing collection in the Fastcase law library.

This partnership provides all Fastcase subscribers and nearly 75% of lawyers across the nation with access to the complete James Publishing library. Legal professionals and researchers in law firms, law schools, and law libraries will benefit from access to Fastcase’s growing database of unique, must-have content published in consumer-friendly media formats.

“We are thrilled to share our library with Fastcase subscribers and look forward to making these titles more readily available to legal researchers,” said James Publishing President Kara Prior.

Fastcase subscribers, as well as members of bar associations that provide access to Fastcase’s online law library as a member benefit, will receive unrestricted access to the full library of James Publishing titles at both individual and special bundled retail pricing for annual subscriptions. Law schools, large firms, and government organizations will also be able to subscribe to the collection as part of their Fastcase access.

“Along with our partners in bar associations and law firms, we’ve built a powerful platform, running more than 4 million searches per month, and we’re continually improving it,” said Fastcase CEO Ed Walters. “We are so appreciative the James Publishing library is now available to legal researchers who rely on Fastcase for smarter legal research. The James team shares our commitment in making the law more accessible to more people.”

The titles will be available for purchase in conjunction with Fastcase’s other publishing partners, as well as its own imprint, Full Court Press. During its inaugural year, Full Court Press has enhanced Fastcase’s libraries by co-developing digests, journals, books, and blogs with an array of partners, including state and specialty bar associations, leading law schools and law firms, and franchise authors who have a long history of working with Fastcase COO Steve Errick, and who embrace Fastcase as a steward of their works.

 

“We’ve already accomplished some major milestones during our first year as an imprint, and are excited about this partnership with James Publishing,” said Full Court Press Publisher Morgan Morrissette Wright. “As we continue to expand our libraries and offerings, we’re selectively looking for publishing partners who can add their unique content to our platform to the benefit of all, achieving our vision to make the law more accessible and providing an improved research experience.”

 

Fastcase users will be able to search the new treatises within the legal research platform immediately. For assistance with accessing the new secondary materials, users can contact customer support at 1-866-77-FASTCASE (866.773.2782). Those without a Fastcase subscription can try the new integration by signing up for a free trial at www.fastcase.com.

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About Fastcase

As the smarter alternative for legal research, Fastcase democratizes the law, making it more accessible to more people. Using patented software that combines the best of legal research with the best of Web search, Fastcase helps busy users sift through the clutter, ranking the best cases first and enabling the re-sorting of results to find answers fast. Founded in 1999, Fastcase has more than 900,000 subscribers from around the world. Fastcase is an American company based in Washington, D.C. For more information, follow Fastcase on Twitter at @Fastcase, or visit www.fastcase.com.

 

About James Publishing

James Publishing, founded in 1981, publishes and markets practical law books that are loaded with time-saving motions and pleadings, client letters, and step-by-step procedural checklists, pattern arguments, model questions, pitfalls to avoid, and practice tips. For more information, visit www.jamespublishing.com.

 

Law firm subscribers to TRG Screen‘s Quest, Research Monitor and Smart Recharge products will be thrilled to hear that TRG has secured long term strategic investment from Pamlico Capital, a Charlotte, NC based private equity firm. The Research Monitor product helps law firms collect utilization and ROI data on the high ticket digital resources that lawyers and administrators rely to inform the business and practice of law.  Quest is a research workflow tool that helps research teams across multiple offices and timezones manage and optimize  workflow. Both products help law library directors and CKOs optimize digital and staff resources and budgets. According to Steve Matthews, CEO at TRG Screen, about 75% of the Amlaw 100 firms now subscribe to one of TRG’s products.

The press release highlights some important promises to subscribers: “With Pamlico’s backing, TRG Screen will accelerate its investment in its unique portfolio of spend and usage capabilities, adding new solutions that bring Continue Reading TRG Screen Owner of Legal Workflow and Analytics Tools Quest, Research Monitor and Smart Recharge Gets Capital Infusion

Fastcase and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)  announced the launch of a new biannual law journal  focused on the tumultuous landscape of immigration law. The journal which is to launch in 2019, will cover “current and pragmatic” immigration law topics. Editor-in-Chief is Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, Samuel Weiss Faculty Scholar and Clinical Professor of Law at Penn State Law in University Park.

Earlier this year I wrote a post  about Fastcase’s launch of it’s own  publishing imprint – Full Court Press. The AILA Law Journal will be the second  Full Court Press journal following  RAIL: The Journal of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence & Law.   Like RAIL, the new journal will be available in print, as an eBook, and within the Fastcase legal research Continue Reading Fastcase to Launch Immigration Journal with the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)