Bloomberg Law Beefs Up Its Research Platform, Keeps Flat Monthly Fee
Bloomberg Law is seeking to convert LexisNexis and Westlaw subscribers with its “next evolution” legal research platform.
The new version of Bloomberg Law was unveiled last week, according to Robert Ambrogi’s LawSites. The changes—which include a redesigned interface and enhanced search capabilities—follow Bloomberg’s hiring of a couple executives from competitor LexisNexis: Lou Andreozzi, former president and CEO of LexisNexis North American Legal Markets, and Larry Thompson, LexisNexis’ former vice president of business development, strategy and marketing.
Andreozzi is Bloomberg Law’s CEO and Thompson is chief operating officer, LawSites says. In an interview with the publication, Andreozzi emphasized that the company’s flat fee remains $450 a month. The price includes all federal and state primary law, as well as a case citator, and national and international dockets.
And there’s a bonus: Subscribers get business intelligence from Bloomberg. A Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) story about Bloomberg Law provides an example. Lawyers representing a company suing another for copyright infringement can use Bloomberg Law to get stock charts, patent histories, and patent filings. Judges and lawyers can be searched for their stock holdings and their service on corporate boards.
The present form of Bloomberg Law differs from one introduced to law students in early 2007, the Wall Street Journal says. “The fingerprint-scanning device for logging in often didn’t work,” the story says, “and the black background and amber lettering familiar to traders were frightening to students.” The black background is now gone, and the product is available on the Web rather than terminals.
Prior coverage:
ABA Journal: “Wired! The battle for your legal research dollars heats up”
ABAJournal.com: “For $450 a Month, Bloomberg’s New Legal Research Service Still Has Rough Edges”
