Thomson Reuters Girds for a Tough 2010
December 5, 2009
The news in the Wall Street Journal today (December 3, 2009) reminded me of the headlines from mid 2008. More than a year ago the headlines were like this one “Thomson Reuters Confirms Hundreds of Job Cuts”. Today’s headline was “Thomson Reuters to Cut Law Unit Jobs.” My hunch is that the addition of legal content to Google Scholar will put significant pressure on Westlaw and other for-fee legal publishers. Job cuts may help… temporarily. The longer term may require more severe actions; for example, shifting from the legacy approach to legal information to a more software centric approach. In a footrace, will Google win or will Thomson Reuters? Place your bets with your retirement fund.
Stephen Arnold, December 5, 2009
I must disclose to the Department of Justice that I was not paid to point out that free legal information may be a big problem for a for fee legal information service.