Good Ideas Age and Become Great Ideas
By Michael Saint-Onge
The American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) turns 100 years old in 2006. What a wonderful milestone! I love hearing tales of those early days and imagining that very first meeting. Did the participants have any idea that their fledgling organization would grow into the AALL we know today—5,000+ members strong? I doubt it.
But that’s the fascinating thing about history, isn’t it? How a simple idea is born and grows … and grows and evolves year
after year. And lifetimes later, with the contribution of many generations, that wonderful idea still stands. I guess that’s what they mean by “standing the test of time.”
As I thought about how well AALL has stood the many tests of time, I also started to reflect on LexisNexis history. Some of the companies in the LexisNexis portfolio date back to the earliest days of legal publishing in this country. Did Frank Shepard ever imagine what his simple idea would become? Did Matthew Bender envision that his name would become synonymous with quality and that legal professionals would rely on his treatises thousands of times each day? Again, I doubt it.
With the AALL’s 100th anniversary in mind, I compiled a simple timeline of milestones for some of the companies comprising what we now know as LexisNexis.
I wanted to share it with you. Information professionals are notorious history buffs (and proud of it).
We’re also pretty good at stepping back and looking at the big picture history presents. When I look at the LexisNexis portfolio timeline, I notice LexisNexis is not a jumbled assortment of companies. The generations of leaders before us saw the evolution of ideas regarding effective legal research. These forefathers compiled the best ideas—ones that had stood the test of time. For example, Shepard’s invented citations research, and it still leads the way. Martindale-Hubbell is the oldest and most respected legal directory, and martindale.com® and lawyers.comsm are the most-used attorney Web sites in the world. Computer-assisted legal research was born
under the Lexis® name.
Even today, as the legal profession transforms into a global profession, LexisNexis evolves with new companies and new, exclusive alliances with Factiva, Tax Analysts Inc., The Wall Street Journal Online, Ozmosys and other industry leaders. And not just research industry leaders, but leaders in successful client development, litigation services, such as the latest tools in e-discovery, and practice management tools like billing ... truly total practice solutions.
LexisNexis Companies … A 140-year Timeline
1868 ...
First Martindale Directory published by James Martindale. In 1930, the Martindale Company purchased Hubbell’s Legal Directory (which contained a digest of collected laws of each state) and became “Martindale-Hubbell,” which joined Reed Publishing (USA) in 1990. Martindale-Hubbell resources joined the LexisNexis services in 1990.
1873 ...
Frank Shepard founded Shepard’s, a citations service that produced gummed, perforated sheets that attorneys could attach directly to their law books. Shepard’s was purchased by McGraw-Hill in 1966. Shepard’s Citations Service went online through LexisNexis in 1981. Matthew Bender and Reed Elsevier jointly purchased Shepard’s in 1996.
1880 ...
Jacobus George Robbers starts Rotterdam Publishing Company NV Uitgeversmaatschappij Elsevier to publish literary classics and the encyclopedia, Winkler Prins. Robbers selects “Elsevier” from a 16th century Dutch family of booksellers and printers.
1887 ...
Matthew Bender Sr. opened his bookstore in Albany, NY. In addition to other publishers’ books, he sold a few of his own titles. In 1905, his two sons joined the business … Matthew Bender & Sons. The company was purchased by Times-Mirror in 1963 and joined Reed Elsevier in 1998.
1887 ...
William Harvey Anderson founded The Anderson Publishing Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1908 he purchased the law book titles from another publisher. In 1912 he published Page and Adam’s Ohio General Code. Page’s Ohio Revised Code Annotated continues to be published today. Anderson Publishing® became part of LexisNexis in 2002.
1894 ...
Albert E. Reed established his UK newsprint mill, and then later expanded into publishing, which became the company’s main focus by the 1980s. It merged with Elsevier to form Reed Elsevier in 1993.
1897 ...
Michie’s Publishing Company was founded in Charlottesville, Virginia. The company was managed by family members until 1969 and was acquired by Mead Data Central in 1988.
1951 ...
The Book Publishing Company was founded in Washington State. Over its history, it has published municipal codes for more than 2,000 municipalities. It joined LexisNexis in 2001.
1966 ...
Founded as the Data Corporation, then purchased by the Mead Corporation in 1968, Mead Data Central launched the first commercial full-text legal information service, Lexis, in 1973. Nexis®, the news component, debuted in 1980. LexisNexis joined Reed Elsevier in 1994.
1984 ...
Mealey’s was founded by Michael Mealey, a journalist. The first publication was a report on asbestos litigation. Acquired by LexisNexis in 2000, Mealey’s now hosts more than 30 conferences a year on evolving litigation topics as well as publishing newsletters.
1989 ...
CourtLink founded by Gary Vowels. CourtLink began as a management computer-system company selling to the state judicial system. In 1993, the company shifted its emphasis to providing online services to lawyers and others interested in court activities. It joined LexisNexis in 2000.
1996 ...
Interface Software founded. InterAction® creates contact and activity lists for companywide access. It joined LexisNexis in 2004.
1998 ...
Seisint, a leading provider of public-records database products in the risk management industry, was founded. It joined LexisNexis in 2004.
1999 ...
Applied Discovery was formed in Bellevue, Washington, to develop electronic discovery solutions for the industry. LexisNexis acquired the company in 2003.
2006 ...
LexisNexis launches LexisNexis Total Practice Solutions, assembling an impressive array of client development, research, practice management and litigation services solutions.
