Today Bloomberg Law announced the expansion of Litigation Practice Guidance which includes overviews, checklists, sample forms and filings that are organized around the litigation process. They are structured to guide attorneys through each phase of initiating and defending litigation– addressing both legal and logistical issues. A new Litigation Resources page organizes the key research tools and reference materials needed for daily practice, including statutes of limitations, jury instructions, court rules, laws, and regulations. The guidance resources enhance and link to the litigation resources which where already on Bloomberg Law  including  Points of Law, Smart Codes and their outstanding docket resources.

Joe Breda, The President of Bloomberg Law and Mindy Rattan who oversees the development of litigation content. provided me with an overview of the product. Breda described Litigation Practice Guidance as providing “reliable answers in the shortest amount of time.”  As law firms have embraced the “gospel of efficiency”  Bloomberg Law and their legal publishing competitors have responded by moving away from the esoteric treatise toward the practical roadmap and one-stop resource center. in 2011 Bloomberg acquired the Bureau of National Affairs which had pioneered practical guidance with their Tax and Corporate Practice Portfolios. According to Breda, the Litigation portfolios remain available in the Litigation Practice Center, but the Litigation Practical Guidance materials are the result of a new initiative headed up by Mindy Rattan. These resources are authored by expert practitioners rather than by legal editors. They will continue to build out content and have already announced that new resources will cover Special Defenses and Discovery.

The Litigation Practice Guidance includes:

 

  • Topical overviews, checklist and forms
  • Links to related content (e.g. dockets, patents)
  • Points of law providing key legal principles in court opinions
  • Smart Code provides up-to-date judicial interpretations of statues rules and regulations
  • Practice tips guidance written by expert practitioners

 

LITIGATION GUIDANCE OVERVIEW

 

TEMPLATE FOR MOTION DRAFTING

Template for Drafting a Motion 

INTERACTIVE STATUTES OF LIMITIATIONS MAP

Interactive state statutes of limitations map

Market Position: The two main competitors to Litigation Guidance are LexisNexis Practice Advisor and Thomson Reuters Practical Law. Practical Law  started in the UK and since its acquisition by TR has become the dominant practical guidance product in the U. S.. Like other TR products, Practical Law is a “high ticket” product.  TR has also morphed and divided their Practical Law product into multiple “flavors” of Practical Law — achieving two unintended outcomes– diluting the  Practical Law brand and annoying their customers. Price sensitive customers are looking for alternatives. Since Litigation Guidance is available to anyone with a Bloomberg Law Subscription – this could begin to erode Practical Law use in firms with access to Bloomberg Law.  But in order to move the market – Bloomberg needs to develop more guidance materials for more practice areas.  For now, they are off to a promising start.

Availability: As with all enhancements to the Bloomberg Law platform, this new Litigation Practical Guidance and the accompanying Litigation Resources expansion are available to Bloomberg Law subscribers at no additional cost.

Demo: Request a demo at this link.