The current BIALL President, Julie Christmas, talks to LIM Co-Editors Mike and Jas Breslin about how she became a legal information manager, how she's trying to upgrade the technology to allow the organisation to function smoothly, and why she believes that the job title ‘law librarian’ should – just perhaps – be consigned to history.

For the vast majority of us salary is one of the key reasons we work. With bills to pay and mouths to feed we want to know we are being fairly compensated for the jobs we do. One way to check this is to use the BIALL Annual Salary Survey which considers not only salaries but also working conditions and benefits, offering a comparison to similar organisations and roles. In this article Julie Christmas, Claire Mazer and the team from CB Resourcing highlight some of the findings from the 2023 survey and consider the reasons behind these.

This article by Emily Allbon introduces readers to the discipline of legal design, offering an insight into its application, its methodology, and the contexts in which it appears. There is coverage of why legal design is so pivotal for ensuring access to the law and an exploration of where it is being used: in legal practice, in academia, in public legal education and in the courts. There is also a close look at one element; that of visual contracts, and some consideration of where the legal information profession might position itself.

With the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) having been introduced in 2021 the training of solicitors has changed. But what impact will its legal research assessment have on their ability to do this sort of work? Here Greg Bennett, who works at BPP in London – where in addition to being a law librarian he is also studying the LPC – gives an overview of the situation and outlines his own concerns.

In this article Anne O'Connor and Joanna Morris of Thomson Reuters set the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (REUL Act 2023) within its broader historical context, summarise provisions likely to be of interest to the legal information community, and explain how and why the REUL Act 2023 has given rise to legal uncertainty.

‘Going Green: The BIALL Sustainability Working Group’ was a parallel session presented by Christine Baird during the BIALL Annual Conference ‘Gaining the edge: investing in our skillset’, held in Belfast in June 2023. The session aimed to provide an introduction to the newly formed BIALL Sustainability Working Group. The session, and this subsequent article, outlines the group's aims, projects and structure, as well as the wider contexts which motivated the group's establishment. It discusses the ways in which information professionals can develop more sustainable working practices, both individually and by leveraging the power of our professional networks. This paper explores the opportunities for legal librarians to engage in community activism, and the importance of both this concept and of ‘cathedral thinking’ in responding to the climate crisis.

In this article Jas Breslin, Head of Research and Information Services at Charles Russell Speechlys, gives a brief overview of the type of work performed by a corporate lawyer, and some of the key resources used to support their work.

In an era where efficient information management is crucial, KnowAll Matrix stands out as a transformative tool for legal informational professionals. It was developed by an experienced UK legal library consultant, Penny Bailey, and here Bailey Solutions explains how this innovative platform goes beyond standard library management systems to offer a future-proof solution, revolutionising access to legal knowledge. Utilised by large law firms, barristers' chambers, government libraries, European agencies, a European parliament, and other organisations, KnowAll Matrix supports information staff to proficiently manage all traditional library functions, including cataloguing, subject indexing, classification, circulation, loans, acquisitions, and serials management. Furthermore, it offers essential features for modern electronic resources management. Its user-friendly interface ensures seamless discovery of both print and digital resources in a single search, prioritising user convenience. Over two decades, as the legal and technological landscapes have evolved, so too has the product, with innovative features like multi-hierarchical taxonomies, practice group resources, single sign-on, and contract renewals. This article delves into these new features and their utilisation by clients to make the library and information centre a primary resource for legal professionals seeking information.

In the latest in our series reviewing archived copies of Legal Information Management and The Law Librarian – as the journal was once known – LIM's co-editors leaf through the issues of 1974.