摘要：As law firms consolidate, vendormanagement and contractnegotiations are increasinglymoving from the local level to thenational level, mirroring the centralpurchasing departments of corporations.These corporate departments handle theacquisition of equipment and suppliesfor the entire organization. This modelcan save money, build experience, andfoster positive vendor relationships. Lawfirms are just starting to implement thismodel in certain purchasing areas, suchas supplies and food. The library/researchresources required to support a lawpractice, however, can make the calmestpurchasing professional screech infrustration. These purchasing managersmay throw up their hands in despairafter trying to deal with annual loose-leafupdates, LMAs, pocket parts in the samesubscription as hardcover volumes, anddigital newsletters
