Emerging needs of law firms revealed in Jinfo's research
Jinfo Blog

By Sophie Alexander

Abstract

After taking a break last year, Jinfo's "Research on UK legal purchasing preferences and needs" is back for 2018 and you won't want to miss it. In this, our eighth survey since we began in 2010, we reflect on the changes that digital and online sources and trends in automation are having on the industry.

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The UK legal industry has witnessed quite a bit of change since our last survey was published in 2016, and as a result, we've overhauled many of our questions this year, so our survey better reflects the current and emerging needs of law firms. 

We still focus on the top four legal products - Westlaw UK and Practical Law from Thomson Reuters, LexisLibrary and LexisPSL from LexisNexis.

We also select a theme every year for the research and this year's theme was understanding value. How value is determined by respondents was reflected in a number of characteristics, including whether a product saves time, reduces risk, helps staff stay current on the law, whether the vendor relationship is positive, how the product integrates into the workflow, works with other products, and whether the product works with internal content.

Although the legal industry can be slow to change, we have seen significant changes over the past 18 months in the way that knowledge and information services are delivered, with the adoption of a more diverse set of skills to meet the demands of the firm as well as the use of systems powered by artificial intelligence.  

Management of digital content

One of the biggest changes we've seen since we first started studying UK legal purchasing needs and preferences in 2010 is the move from print to digital and there are still many pain-points reflected in this year's survey in relation to IT challenges, including authentication, sign-in and integration with systems, with most respondents wanting products that require minimal IT support.

Find out more

Jinfo's research into legal purchasing preferences and needs in the UK legal market makes interesting reading for information professionals and budget holders in firms which purchase legal sources and databases.

To see the full results of our 2018 survey, read Jinfo's "Research on UK legal purchasing preferences and needs 2018" (Subscription content).

If you don't have a Jinfo Subscription, find out more today.

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