Legal Commentary

Bloomberg Law has wooed two former LexisNexis leaders to help push its competing legal research system. Lou Andreozzi (right) the former CEO of LexisNexis North American, has joined as its CEO, Larry Thompson as chief operating officer.

Thompson, who will be responsible for day-to-day operations, is a former senior vice president at LexisNexis. He most recently was senior partner with The Sterling Group 925.

Bloomberg Law provides real-time legal research system, competing directly with both LexisNexis and with Thomson Reuters Westlaw.

In a Tuesday afternoon interview with Law Technology News, Andreozzi said that Bloomberg Law "will offer something that law firms have been asking for, for a long time: fixed pricing -- extremely attractive -- and predictable pricing."

How much? The company has not yet decided on exactly what that pricing will be. "That will be one of the first things we will work out," he said. All databases will be included, he promised.

The service will exploit's Bloomberg's existing news services, and will be multimedia, with a user-friendly interface, said Andreozzi. "We are positioning it so  that law firms will get what they need on a daily basis."

When asked about Thomson Reuters, which also marries legal information with news services, he acknowledged that "Thomson Reuters is a very formitable competitor," and noted that law firms may well purchase Bloomberg Law to complement their existing Thomson Reuters and/or LexisNexis existing services.

He also acknowledged that the company "still has a way to go with some of the legal content," citing blogger Robert Ambrogi's analogy of a luxury yacht that still needs "some compartments filled in." 

(Ambrogi's assessment in February: "My overall impression of Bloomberg Law was of a luxury yacht only partially constructed. It looks impressive and many parts of it are fitted out with top-of-the-line features. But as you wander around its decks, many doorways open to unfinished, empty rooms. It is seaworthy, one assumes, but still has a lengthy punch list.")

Andreozzi spent more than 10 years at LexisNexis. As CEO of North American Legal Markets, he was involved with the Lexis online service, Shepard?s, Matthew Bender, Martindale-Hubbell and lawyers.com, says Bloomberg Law.  Prior to his CEO post, he served as the company's general counsel. Andreozzi most recently was CEO of IQNavigator.

Constantin Cotzias, who oversaw the launch of Bloomberg Law, will join the senior leadership team in Bloomberg Europe, where he will head government and regulatory affairs and government business development and strategy in Europe, the company reports.

Related:

Robert Ambrogi, "Three's a Crowd," LTN 2/2010

Robert Ambrogi, "Is It A Contender," November, 2009.