Jump to content

Online Legal & Business Research Services (LexisNexis & Westlaw)


Recommended Posts

Should contracting officers have access to online legal and business research services such as LexisNexis or Westlaw? If yes, why? If no, why not?

Full disclosure: I am trying to build a business case to bring forward prior to requesting a subscription. Nonetheless, I am interesting in discussing the usefulness of such services.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jamaal,

I don't speak to the matter from personal experience, but Providing such access seems likely to become a good risk management decision that will also enhance the professionalism to be found in this career field.  For offices that are early to hop on this bandwagon, it could help attract and retain talent.  Toward that specific end, maybe the effort could start out as an acquisition workforce development fund initiative and transition to O & M funding later. I think the bosses are looking for bottom-up ideas for acquisition workforce development funds (See the Rand report on the Air Force Management of the Acquisition Wirkforce Development Fund: http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1486.html ).

For further support, I would probably emphasize the contracting officer responsibility with respect to the law fond at FAR 1.602-1 (b): "No contract shall be entered into unless the contracting officer ensures that all requirements of law, executive orders, regulations, and all other applicable procedures, including clearances and approvals, have been met."

 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Vern Edwards
10 hours ago, Jamaal Valentine said:

Should contracting officers have access to online legal and business research services such as LexisNexis or Westlaw? If yes, why? If no, why not?

What does "access" mean?

As a manager, I would not agree to provide access to such services at individual desktops. My reasons:

1. Such services are useful mainly to those who have been trained in the conduct of systematic topical research. Many people have received little if any training in such research planning and execution. Providing access at individual desktops would result in much time wasted in spontaneous, random, and wild goose chase searches. it would be a distraction without much organizational payoff.

2. Some people would get caught up in case law research and argumentation for which they have had little or no training or experience. There would be little if any organizational payoff to providing such access for such use.

I would agree to provide general office access at one or two office desktops at which people could schedule well-defined and planned research sessions for specific purposes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Vern:

Access, as in gain access to: the means to enter and obtain, retrieve, or review content ... probably through subscription, but not necessarily. I'm open to suggestions - perhaps through a designated computer or person might work.

I'm interested in more than the legal research. I think the Cibinic and Nash Report should be readily accessible to all 1102 personnel. Additionally, I am intrigued by the entity and individual financial data LexisNexis offers. At the operational-contracting level, contractor responsibility determinations often lack meaningful data to support FAR 9.104-1(a) and other requirements. (Maybe a Duns & Bradstreet subscription would be of better use.)

I think a pilot program could be used. Heck, the annual subscription price I was given is less than some good books.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest PepeTheFrog

PepeTheFrog loves Westlaw, especially for the various newsletters, briefing papers, journals, etc. about Government contracts ("periodicals").

The percentage of the contracting frogs that would (a) have interest in and (b) have the ability to benefit from the research tools of Westlaw/Lexis is very small. The percentage is much higher for those who would benefit from reading the periodicals. 

PepeTheFrog likes where Vern is headed: an intermediate step between no access and full access. Maybe this could be a negotiated subscription to make certain periodicals available for all federal contracting frogs. The benefits would not outweigh the costs of providing full access to all federal contracting frogs.

1 hour ago, Vern Edwards said:

general office access at one or two office desktops at which people could schedule well-defined and planned research sessions for specific purposes

For DoD frogs in the District of Corruption area, the Pentagon library system has a Westlaw/Lexis enterprise subscription. The librarian must log you in first, but you will have full access while you're at the computer. This setup is like what Vern suggests above.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We use D&B, but I thought D&B was primarily self-reported, and therefore could be gamed.

In our situation, access to Consumer Reports would make more sense given the amount of knick-knacks we purchase (though not for responsibility purposes). Don't know if that would be useful to you, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think access should be available, but in a more centralized and cost effective way.  If you haven't, I'd make the argument for ensuring access is available to all, without having to pay for dozens of subscriptions, which would be cost prohibitive.

I've seen too many situations in my career where one or two people want something, then everyone has got to have it, but then it sits to be only used rarely, if ever (e.g. books, headsets and whatever the latest office gadget is).  Recently, those stand up raise-able desk platforms were ordered for some folks in my office area.  They were used at first, but I've seem them rarely used over the last several months.  This type of waste may be one reason leadership hesitates on purchasing such items. Another reason may be they don't want to give access to some, but not all in the interest of "fairness".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Jamaal Valentine said:

Should contracting officers have access to online legal and business research services such as LexisNexis or Westlaw? If yes, why? If no, why not?

If I were a contracting officer, I would want access to both WestLaw and IntelliConnect. However, if I were running a contracting office, I wouldn't go out and buy subscriptions for all of my contracting officers. If someone were interested in a subscription, I'd want to be confident that they would know how to use it and that they would use it. A lot of new contract specialists have law degrees and know what they are doing with LexisNexis and WestLaw. I wouldn't have a problem buying them a subscription. I think I would buy a subscription for you, Jamaal, provided you agreed to receive training.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest PepeTheFrog
22 hours ago, Don Mansfield said:

A lot of new contract specialists have law degrees

Don Mansfield, PepeTheFrog imagines you teach your fair share of contracting tadpoles...In your estimation, what percentage of contracting tadpoles have law degrees? Any idea when the percentage started to increase?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jamaal, does your agency have research services or information professionals (librarians) that can be consulted? Usually, if I need something researched, i just email our internal library and they can usually find what I need. I know our library has several law librarians, so they are well-versed. I agree with Vern I that a person will have a great deal of difficult using rather complicated search tools and databases without proper training.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

50 minutes ago, PepeTheFrog said:

Don Mansfield, PepeTheFrog imagines you teach your fair share of contracting tadpoles...In your estimation, what percentage of contracting tadpoles have law degrees? Any idea when the percentage started to increase?

Based on last year's classes, I would say 10%. I would say the increase has been slow and steady over the last few years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...