They are all businesses providing technology products and services or management consulting services that happen to be
owned by a legal publisher.
Prior to the existence of the Internet there was a long standing debate respecting the volume of cases that were being
published by legal publishers.
Perhaps the most ubiquitous statement made, certainly not
only by legal publishers but by them in any case, is the familiar «our people are our most important asset».
Who's Who Legal is
produced by the legal publisher Law Business Research, which is also behind several other well - known legal titles such as Global Competition Review, Global Arbitration Review, and Latin Lawyer.
Needless to say, the lawsuit triggered a major review of licensing
practices by the legal publishers who took immediate steps to ensure that the issue was addressed in publishing agreements negotiated after the date that the lawsuit was initiated.
The law reports classified by The Guide to Legal Citation as semi-official law reporters are in reality commercial publications prepared
by legal publishers in the exactly the same manner as any other law report.
Robert Mackay's recent post about how publishing is becoming an academic discipline highlights yet another source of analysis and commentary on the strategies being pursued with varying degrees of
success by the legal publishers.
Early
efforts by the legal publishers to deal with this issue were rendered ineffective with the arrival of comprehensive case citators and the publication of full text cases.
Moreover, there really are limits on the amount a law firm or legal practitioner will pay for legal information and therefore limits on the revenue growth that can be
achieved by the legal publishers.
Throughout the year that followed, the customer would have the benefit of a publication that appeared to be current, frequently with updates provided
by the legal publisher when changes occurred in the law.
The January / February 2010 Law Librarians newsletter put out
by legal publisher Westlaw has published an article entitled Law Firm Economics and the Librarian — Bring Value Through Training.
As online products become increasingly competitive in content and price, customers may opt to chose research solutions made entirely in
Canada by legal publishers based here rather than built by nameless companies based abroad.
Over time it has become almost a ritual as gracious questions presented by law librarians in a respectful and unthreatening manner are responded to with vague generic
answers by legal publishers.
In an effort to reduce costs and maintain profit margins, legal publishers have embraced the idea of contracting out editorial processes and systems maintenance and development to businesses based offshore, that may or may not be
owned by the legal publishers.