Neither the Westies nor the folks at LexisNexis are known for backing away from a challenge. And they don’t seem inclined to back down now. Clemens Ceipek, who runs new-product development for LexisNexis, says that as cases and statutes become easier for attorneys to find free online, it’s the manpower to make sense of material that increasingly differentiates the leaders, said

“That takes a long time to build,” Mr. Ceipek said of the analytical materials that firms like LexisNexis have either bought or developed over the years. “It’s very difficult to catch up.”

This is what LexisNexis said about the entrance of Bloomberg Law to the market.

I think the only way to compete and differentiate from Wexis (West & Lexis) is to beat them at their own game using less “manpower.” Both organizations have countless research librarians, whose sole job is to read and analyze cases. I have no doubt how much this costs, but I’d imagine this is a huge component of their expenses.

If this process could be handled automagically, then we have a game-changer.

No doubt, the institutional resistance to change of doing anything outside the scope of research librarians would put a slow-break on such changes. Anyway, some food for thought.