Meanwhile, Law Publishing Life Goes On

The useful part

Slaw September 8 th 2026 Comment Share Email Twitter Google+ Facebook LinkedIn Posted in: It would be safe to suggest, however, that even if law publishing activity is not as we have known it in the past, reports of its death may have been somewhat exaggerated. Print is more likely to be killed off by price gouging, combined with actions which appear to be purposely intended to increase production costs, and therefore prices, by the publishers, rather than by technology.

How it works

• Still, one has to wonder at what are the true reactions to this, and to similar events, at the headquarters of the market leaders, RELX, Wolters Kluwer and Thomson Reuters.
• However, Kate Worlock, of Outsell, writes that the acquisition signals a subscription model comeback, and raises urgent questions for libraries, societies, and anyone in the AI content economy.
• The lesson learned is that any fool can predict almost anything, and maybe even by chance be correct, eventually, so long as accurate time frames, financial calculations, performance indicators and every...
• Other than the near certainty that Musk will not die in penury and that Trump will probably not live out what is left of his wasted life in personal dedication to reading, contemplation and self-sacrifice,...
• The objective here is to use the Jurisage acquisition to power Clio Work.

What to take from it

The acquisition is intended to grow Bloomberg Industry Group's range of law, tax, and government affairs primary sources, analysis, and editorial coverage by integrating AI-driven regulatory change management capabilities. Of course, all sorts of caveats are included in the deal, but it certainly indicates the longer-term direction of Thomson Reuters as a business and its, more or less, definitive intention to quit that aspect of its overall activities. That might just have been in a year in which print-related revenues and profits were at an all-time high.

Example or evidence

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• Clearly, the huge investment being poured into Clio is being put to use and the results will be seen over time.
• The last of these three is a notably Canadian-based international company, still and endlessly arguing in court with ROSS Intelligence about the alleged misuse of 25,000 of its headnotes.
• The managements and shareholders of all of them can hardly be amused at the effect on their now-diminished market valuations, as AI deals proliferate around and below them.

Details worth keeping

This might be an indication, perhaps, that demand is exceeding supply, as publishers' output does not match customer requirements, while the clients of lawyers are not necessarily clamouring for change, and/or that there may yet be untapped market opportunities. I recall, wryly, around a quarter of a century ago, being advised by an accountant in professional publishing, who had a degree of authority but only little knowledge about any aspect of that trade and its markets, that it was time to stop publishing printed volumes, as their time had allegedly passed. Unquestionably, stories of major and high value mergers and acquisitions, as well as content licensing deals in this market, narrowly viewed, have not been numerous or shocking in their importance and extent, of late, but nor have they been entirely absent, and some may turn out to have great significance.

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