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Recommind, a leading provider of enterprise search, automatic categorization and eDiscovery systems for enterprises and law firms, today announced that Shook, Hardy & Bacon, a top international law firm, has chosen Recommind's MindServer(TM) Legal platform to power its internal information retrieval system. The MindServer Legal platform enables Shook, Hardy & Bacon's partners, associates, analysts, and paralegals in nine offices around the world to more effectively search, access and manage information to support client objectives in a cost-effective manner.

"We selected Recommind's MindServer Legal platform because our lawyers, analysts, and legal staff found it intuitive to use, identifying not only relevant documents and files, but also the on-point expertise of individual lawyers and analysts in the firm," said John Anderson, CIO at Shook, Hardy & Bacon. "In comparison with other platforms, Recommind's platform was more effective and will take employees less time in the searching process, leaving more time for clients."

Shook, Hardy & Bacon has chosen to deploy the following MindServer Legal components: -- Enterprise Search, which utilizes powerful, concept-based search capabilities to connect relevant information in document management, records management, portal and e-mail systems and myriad other applications and databases with the attorneys that need it. -- Matters & Expertise which provides a comprehensive, firm-wide view of matters, deals, cases, and the vast array of expertise contained within a firm by tapping into a variety of information sources such as time and billing systems, CRM applications, intranets, internal firm databases and other information repositories.

But, I think there are some that are suddenly realizing that the decision to go online only for some types of research tools, such as treatises, was not the best decision in the long run.

On top of this, I'm also wondering if there is an ethical line that we've crossed along the way by charging the client back for the online version of the treatise when we would not charge for researching the print version.

First of all, is it fair for an online provider to charge a standard rate of $825.00 an hour for an online treatise that you can purchase for $499.00 a year for the full print version? Secondly, is it fair for firms to pass the cost of these online charges (granted, some have deep discounts, so it could only be $100.00 an hour) on to the client when they would not pass along the same charges for using the print version?

Last year only 9 percent of respondents said their budgets had shrunk. This year it was a whopping 46 percent. Staff reductions have also become the norm, with 57 percent of firms paring their library payroll, up from 18 percent in 2008.

are being asked to become detectives of a sort, tracking, graphing, and reporting on their firm's use of every research tool.

Perhaps it's no wonder, then, that we noticed an uptick in librarian dissatisfaction.