Hello, my name is Rob Mattern, and I am the president of Mattern. Welcome to the Spring Edition of Mattern Matters.
With the pandemic under control (for now!), it is great getting back on the road and meeting with clients and potential clients face to face.
A lot of exciting things are happening at Mattern which I am happy to share with you.
Legal Research Contract Negotiation. LexisNexis and Westlaw? Bring It On
I used to say that if I had a $1.00 for every time someone asked me about negotiating legal research contracts, I would be a millionaire. Well, bring it on!
In the beginning of the year, we formalized a relationship with Research Contract Consultants (RCC), a legal research consultancy helmed by principal, Ken Purce. Legal research cost recovery is an area Mattern has been tracking for over a decade and–with a number of mutual clients who spoke very highly of Research Contract Consultants–the synergy to join forces was fortuitous.
In February, we hosted a Mattern LIVE! Coffee Break, “Do You Know What Savings are Hidden in Your Legal Research Contracts?” with Ken Purce and Betsy Raymond, Chief Operating Officer of one of our mutual clients with RCC, Miller Johnson. It was a lively and candid event that can be requested here. The response has been fantastic so far and we look forward to expanding this practice area. As part of our relationship with RCC, you can contact us, and we will help set up your firm for a free assessment of your firm’s legal research contracts and cost recovery. Email us at info@matternassoc.com.
IST Management & Hal Blackman
As you know, Mattern is an unbiased consultancy and agnostic in our approach to support service providers in the industry, but sometimes I can’t help but call out something that stands out as incredibly positive by one specific provider, IST Management and Hal Blackman.
I think it is safe to say that everyone is sickened by the events in Ukraine. Hal Blackman, President, and CEO of IST Management is doing something about it. He is traveling to Poland in April with his new wife to distribute food and non-perishable goods to Ukrainian refugees. The GoFundMe link is https://www.gofundme.com/f/hal-rosas-ukrainian-relief-fund. Hal will match every donation, dollar-for-dollar. Hal, I applaud you – a great and generous gesture.
On the Road Again
We are thrilled to be back on the conference circuit this year. We will be speaking at the ALA Annual Expo in Kissimmee this May on, “Changing Models to Optimize Administrative Support for a Hybrid Workforce”; we’ll be at the Managing Partner Forum in Atlanta in roundtable discussions on firms’ investment strategies, and speaking also at ARMA InfoCon in Nashville on “How to Not Be a Roadblock to your Firm’s Digital Transformation Strategy.”
If your group is starting to meet in person again and you want a dynamic, educational speaker, consider the Consultants at Mattern.
In This Issue
In this issue, we are pleased to feature an article from Consultant, Ben Schmidt on the labor issues plaguing the outsourcing industry and some suggestions for a change in approach in “New Approaches to Outsourced Labor.” We also highlight “The Top 5 Things Firms Should be Doing in 2022,” “How to Avoid Unexpected Increases in Your Outsourcing Contract” as well as provide a list of “5 questions you need to answer in your Outsourcing Contract.” Finally, Consultant Ed Warren provides a practical guide for firms to “Soften the Impact of Paper Cost Increases.”
On the case study front, we have an excellent case study from Burns & Levinson. Mattern helped the firm evaluate the value of its in-house versus outsourced services just as the firm was ready to give up on outsourcing due to the poor performance of their previous service providers.
Looking forward to a great spring season back on the road.