We’re told in no uncertain terms that it’s a “major enhancement to WestlawNext?” and? “helps law firms and their corporate law department clients reduce legal costs and gain better results through knowledge reuse and efficient information sharing. “
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Here’s the release in full….
Folder sharing both within and across organizations makes knowledge management part of the legal research process, driving greater efficiency and cost control. WestlawNext is the only legal research platform that enables sharing of folders containing documents and selected text among users across multiple organizations.
?Last year, we developed and launched the ability to share research folders with team members within the same organization,? said Stephanie Fox, director, New Product Development. ?While that was an important first step, sharing research across multiple organizations is even more valuable. Both internal and external team members can now review and build upon each other?s work product, driving cost savings, greater efficiency and better results for both law firms and their corporate law department clients.?
The power to connect value to the cost of legal services is amplified when both corporate law departments and their outside counsel use WestlawNext. In fact, some corporate law departments are now recommending that their outside counsel use WestlawNext in order to achieve cost savings and efficiency gains. Susan Clary, a partner with law firm Hennelly Grossfeld LLP, says, ?One of our clients also uses, and is a huge fan of WestlawNext. We do work all the time with co-counsel in other cities, other firms, and we are all involved in the same litigation. Sharing our research and expanding on that research together gives us the knowledge sharing power of a larger firm and will help us deliver even better results, more efficiently and cost-effectively to our clients. I?m certain it is a competitive advantage for us.?
Larri Broomfield, partner and chief technology officer with Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c., says, ?We appreciate the ability to share real time information with our corporate clients. Our clients now can access our work product, see our process and utilize our work for related purposes. This WestlawNext feature allows us to better serve our clients.?
The ability to share research across organizations drives benefits to both corporate and outside counsel. Specifically, outside counsel can quickly and easily share research with the client as well as other lawyers and law firms. Past work product can be readily leveraged, preventing ?reinventing the wheel,? which creates greater efficiency and continuous improvement, and means clients are not billed for duplicative research. In-house and outside counsel can ensure that expectations are being met on the progress of the research.
Implementing technology such as WestlawNext is one way that law firms and law departments are meeting the Association of Corporate Counsel?s (ACC) Value Challenge initiative, which seeks to reconnect the cost of legal services to the value provided. Tools such as WestlawNext can help firms improve their standing in the ACC Value Index ? a client satisfaction measurement tool that helps ACC members share meaningful information about the value they get from their outside counsel and search for firms that excel in specific practice areas and markets.
In just over a year since its launch, WestlawNext has already been adopted by over 20,000 law firms, corporations and government agencies, as well as 99% of ABA-accredited law schools in the U.S., marking the fastest adoption rate of any product in the company’s history. Last month, the American Association of Law Libraries named WestlawNext its 2011 New Product of the Year.
To learn how other corporations and law firms are using WestlawNext to deliver better legal services at a lower cost, visit http://customers.westlawnext.com. To learn more about how to use folder sharing, visit WestlawNext Folder Sharing (http://west.thomson.com/westlawnext/about/folder-sharing/).