Court in the crunch.(on duopolies and information services)

Byline: TBO

Court in the crunch

With barely a whisker between them competitively, Reed Elsevier's LexisNexis and Thomson Reuters' Westlaw still dominate the field of legal, regulatory and tax information. But the two big hitters acknowledge they face stiff competition from more specialised providers, and some users are anxious not to tie themselves in too closely to one provider.

In theory, two head-to-head competitors should be good for the market, but one independent information professional isn't so sure. "This is more than offset by the rigidity and lack of creativity such market dominance imposes," he suggests, adding that it "encourages them to mirror each other's moves rather than strike out on a radically different path".

For another customer, from a large law firm, it's a Big Three rather than a Big Two. She spends as much on products from the independent Practical Law Company (PLC) as on LexisNexis and Westlaw. But she's concerned at what she sees as a take it or leave it approach increasingly adopted by the bigger suppliers.

"We are using a library move as a reason to review our whole collection, with cost very firmly in the equation," she adds.

But Simon Drane, head of knowledge solutions at LexisNexis, doubts whether cost is that big an issue. "As customers experience our new or improved products and better customer service, we are finding that the cost of the products and services they regard as fundamental to their business is less of a talking point," he says.