Charles Russell Speechlys

At a Glance

• Automation at scale: 74 legal updates and journals now circulate automatically, replacing a manual, one-title-at-a-time email process.
• Usage data that drives decisions: clear visibility into who reads what, down to the most-subscribed titles, turning renewal conversations into evidence-based ones.
• Self-service control: users manage their own subscriptions, cutting the admin burden on the research team and making onboarding and offboarding faster.

About Charles Russell Speechlys

Charles Russell Speechlys is an international law firm headquartered in the London with offices across the UK, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the US. The Research & Information Services team, with five professional information staff, supports over 750 lawyers across 16 international offices, delivering legal and business research, current awareness, and subscription management across the firm.

Leading the team is Jas Breslin, Research & Information Services Senior Manager, who set out to replace a labour-intensive, email-based journal circulation process with something built to scale alongside the firm.

The Solution

Charles Russell Speechlys implemented automated journal circulation on the Vable platform, standardising delivery of PDF publications and email alerts from major legal platforms, and folding it into the firm's wider approach to subscription optimisation and current awareness.

Vable's InfoPro platform gave the research team a single place to aggregate content from publishers, manage subscriber lists, and hand end users self-service control over what they receive - while the underlying usage data fed directly into subscription and renewal decisions, rather than sitting siloed in inboxes and spreadsheets.

The Results

1. Scale of automation
   The research team has automated the circulation of 74 legal updates and journals - PDF publications and key email alerts from major legal platforms - that were previously handled manually, one email at a time.
   
   
2. Usage data & insights
   The platform gives Charles Russell Speechlys clear visibility into which journals are held, who receives each publication, and click-through rates - down to identifying the most-subscribed titles (Commercial Property Information, closely followed by Property Week, and several Lexis+ Weekly Highlights alerts).
   
   
3. Efficiency and freed-up capacity
   Automation significantly reduced manual admin effort for the research team, improved the consistency, resilience and scalability of journal circulation, and freed up capacity to focus on higher-value, more strategic work.
   
   
4. Self-service for end users
   Users can now control what they receive and how often; there's less reliance on the research team for routine changes; onboarding new joiners and offboarding leavers is faster and cleaner.
   
   
5. More accurate, relevant delivery
   Circulation is more accurate and relevant, since people receive what they've actively chosen rather than what an Outlook distribution list dictates.
   
   
6. Evidence-based renewal decisions
   Usage data turned anecdotal feedback into hard evidence, giving the team a stronger footing for subscription and renewal conversations.
   

Getting There: Implementation Challenges

The transition wasn't without its challenges: securing end-user buy-in as content moved to a centralised email address rather than a familiar individual sender, building a robust business case for the licensing cost, cross-referencing licence-holder lists to keep allocations accurate, and training the research team on the new platform and redesigned workflows.

Jas' Top Tips for Teams Considering the Same Move

• Start with a small pilot to test workflows and user behaviour.
• Engage vendors and publishers early on licensing - for example, negotiating direct PDF delivery instead of manual downloads.
• Build in regular quality checks.
• Invest in staff training before and after go-live.
• Communicate clearly with stakeholders about what's changing and why.
  

Looking Ahead

Having proven the model on 74 titles, Charles Russell Speechlys is well placed to extend the same approach to additional publishers and content types, and to keep folding usage data more deeply into subscription and renewal decisions across the firm.

About Vable

Vable helps law firms cut through information overload - automating current awareness and journal circulation, and turning subscription usage into the data teams need to make confident renewal decisions. Delivering customised content for more than two decades, Vable serves leading businesses and law firms worldwide, backed by ISO 27001 certification and a dedicated Client Success team providing support from both the US and UK.

Independent client research underscores the impact: 74% of clients save an hour or more per week, 20% save five-plus hours per week, and 91% of team leaders report moderate-to-significant time savings - alongside a 90% client recommendation rate.