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Leaders in Legal Business
more classes of user, but branded content has long flourished in the legal sector and looks set to continue,
especially given the importance of content marketing to law firms.
As publishing has moved online, expectations around advertising have changed greatly. No longer can
publishers simply quote readership numbers based on a multiple applied print runs. Advertisers are seeking highly
targeted opportunities and real-time analytics on usage. Those that fail to deliver will be left behind.
There is increased competition from outside the sector from the likes of LinkedIn and Google, which can
target users in the way that previously only a trade publisher could.
Legal directories of one sort or another have long been a mainstay for many publishers. They continue to
provide valuable intelligence to readers, and serve as both a marketing tool and a competitive benchmarking tool
for firms. They are still driven by advertising; as of yet, no one has moved to fees based on the number or value
of the introductions made.
Much of the innovation in this space will come from new market entrants, many of which bring with them
“freemium” models. Just as with so many services outside the space, they work toward proof of concept and build
user bases by offering a free service before introducing premium features.
Tailored Knowledge
In our lifetimes publishing will always be associated with books, but modern legal publishing is as much
about data mining and digital analysis as it is about the printed page. Law libraries may still be filled with rows
of weighty reference tomes, but lawyers now practice in the digital space.
The future of legal publishing is about streamlining the workflows of lawyers and law firms, giving them
access to the latest legal data and market analyses on an individual basis. This will be delivered through the power
of artificial intelligence to collate, curate, and learn, and from using the most authoritative sources. In addition,
they will have the ability to create documentation on the fly — the contracts that underpin transactions or
agreements needed to react to legal or market changes in real time, and the knowledge and training to do what it
is they do. It is about the most efficient delivery of bespoke know-how for every lawyer.
Editors are now digital curators, knowledge professionals, leading teams of coders, and technologists,
producing products more complex and more efficient than lawyers can create or supply. This is the value-add that
the successful legal publishing industry must create. Merely cataloguing information is now the domain of the
search engines; however, books will always be useful things against which to lean your tablet.
Onward or Downward?
Those publishers with a blend of revenue streams from subscriptions and advertising — as well as,
increasingly, software licensing — will have a more secure future. The holy grail of a high annual renewal rate,
providing predictable revenues, will give publishers the best opportunities to invest in developing products that
capitalize on the changes taking place and the technology available to them. While there is a risk that new
technology from outside the legal sector may eat their lunch, the legal publishers of the future that successfully
embed themselves in customers’ workflow through the intelligent application of technology to information will
play a more valuable role in the legal services market.
One thing is certain in today’s technology-driven, more-with-less era of seemingly limitless free
information: Those delivering legal content must demonstrate real, improved outcomes for customers or face
extinction.
The author would like to thank Alex Morrall, a long-time peer in the legal media industry, and Carolyn Boyle,
Globe’s editorial services director, for their invaluable input.
141
more classes of user, but branded content has long flourished in the legal sector and looks set to continue,
especially given the importance of content marketing to law firms.
As publishing has moved online, expectations around advertising have changed greatly. No longer can
publishers simply quote readership numbers based on a multiple applied print runs. Advertisers are seeking highly
targeted opportunities and real-time analytics on usage. Those that fail to deliver will be left behind.
There is increased competition from outside the sector from the likes of LinkedIn and Google, which can
target users in the way that previously only a trade publisher could.
Legal directories of one sort or another have long been a mainstay for many publishers. They continue to
provide valuable intelligence to readers, and serve as both a marketing tool and a competitive benchmarking tool
for firms. They are still driven by advertising; as of yet, no one has moved to fees based on the number or value
of the introductions made.
Much of the innovation in this space will come from new market entrants, many of which bring with them
“freemium” models. Just as with so many services outside the space, they work toward proof of concept and build
user bases by offering a free service before introducing premium features.
Tailored Knowledge
In our lifetimes publishing will always be associated with books, but modern legal publishing is as much
about data mining and digital analysis as it is about the printed page. Law libraries may still be filled with rows
of weighty reference tomes, but lawyers now practice in the digital space.
The future of legal publishing is about streamlining the workflows of lawyers and law firms, giving them
access to the latest legal data and market analyses on an individual basis. This will be delivered through the power
of artificial intelligence to collate, curate, and learn, and from using the most authoritative sources. In addition,
they will have the ability to create documentation on the fly — the contracts that underpin transactions or
agreements needed to react to legal or market changes in real time, and the knowledge and training to do what it
is they do. It is about the most efficient delivery of bespoke know-how for every lawyer.
Editors are now digital curators, knowledge professionals, leading teams of coders, and technologists,
producing products more complex and more efficient than lawyers can create or supply. This is the value-add that
the successful legal publishing industry must create. Merely cataloguing information is now the domain of the
search engines; however, books will always be useful things against which to lean your tablet.
Onward or Downward?
Those publishers with a blend of revenue streams from subscriptions and advertising — as well as,
increasingly, software licensing — will have a more secure future. The holy grail of a high annual renewal rate,
providing predictable revenues, will give publishers the best opportunities to invest in developing products that
capitalize on the changes taking place and the technology available to them. While there is a risk that new
technology from outside the legal sector may eat their lunch, the legal publishers of the future that successfully
embed themselves in customers’ workflow through the intelligent application of technology to information will
play a more valuable role in the legal services market.
One thing is certain in today’s technology-driven, more-with-less era of seemingly limitless free
information: Those delivering legal content must demonstrate real, improved outcomes for customers or face
extinction.
The author would like to thank Alex Morrall, a long-time peer in the legal media industry, and Carolyn Boyle,
Globe’s editorial services director, for their invaluable input.
141
