LexisNexis Legal & Professional Reviews in Bellevue, WA

Current Employee – been working at LexisNexis Legal & Professional

Pros – The People I work with are great.

Cons – A lot of the Management folks have no idea what they are doing.

Advice to Senior Management – Team should have a say on who is hired or promoted.

Former Employee – worked at LexisNexis Legal & Professional

Pros – Extremely knowledgeable people
Very passionate, committed coworkers
Decent benefits
Decent work/life balance, though its up to you to monitor it - they'll take all they can get
Local teams of business-side and development-side people work well together and respect each other

Cons – The local business and development organization is very competant, professional, and gets a lot done. In fact, the Litigation Solutions division is one of the few LexisNexis groups that has met it's sales goals and continued to grow. The big problem is when the corporate office decides to treat this division as just another regional office and makes cookie cutter decisions that have serious negative impacts. In addition, this division is a developer of PC and web-based software applications for the litigation discovery process, and senior management has no idea how to develop software applications. They are "leaders" who have a content background, not a software development background. As a result, they try to make changes to a system that works well, in order to make it fit in with the other divisions, because it's more work to have different processes and practices.

Advice to Senior Management – Let the local management teams make the decisions on how to succeed - if they deliver, why not give them the authority to decide how to operate?
Take a serious look at the trade-offs being made in regards to integrity and valuing your people, in the name of doing whatever it takes to get products out.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at LexisNexis Legal & Professional

Pros – The people I worked with were fun and very good at their jobs. We felt like a small company out in Bellevue and were able to get a lot done with a relatively small team. I really like the local management and had a good work/life balance. We were able to get a lot done until...

Cons – In 2010, all development was off-shored to India. Most developers in Bellevue lost their jobs and those with less product experience were retained in Dayton. Bellevue employees feel like Dayton folks protect their own. The moral is very poor.

Advice to Senior Management – Off-shoring works well for repetitive, well-defined development efforts. Don't force all development down that model. It doesn't work well and it is now showing in many areas. Allow mid-level, and front line managers to say so and not make it a career-ending move. Everyone, but upper-management, knows this but is afraid to say anything contrary to the current party-line for fear of repercussions.

All managers need to quit thinking about their own fiefdoms and start thinking about the company and people. Quit saying that it doesn't matter where people are and then making decision based on employee location that impact people's lives.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at LexisNexis Legal & Professional

Pros – * benefits were fair
* compensation was above average

Cons – * Upper management goes to great pains to hear you, but then ignores everything you say
* Clients tend to be powerful law firms which dictate what becomes internal policy
* Never seemed to be budget for self-improvement

Advice to Senior Management – * Show staff that you're listening
* Lead by example
* Give line managers even a modest budget for silly (important) things like pizza and T-shirts.

Current Employee – been working at LexisNexis Legal & Professional

Pros – Lexis pays comparably to similar sized firms and enables individuals to give-up back to the community. There seems to be a genuine effort being made to improve the company, unfortunately I believe it to be irrevocably broken.

Cons – Lack of growth opportunity, management feedback, and clearly defined processes lead to a very uncertain work environment and drive extensive "churn".

Advice to Senior Management – Eliminate the matrix, it does not work. Invest in the corporate infrastructure, consolidate the sales staff reducing the redundant positions.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at LexisNexis Legal & Professional

Pros – Flexible work environment, great, smart coworkers. If you have a supportive manager you are covered!

Cons – Over the past 2 years (especially) the assimilation into the larger LexisNexis organization changed the dynamics of the local fast-paced team. Challenges between business teams and product development teams. Ship ship ship without really listening to the needs for a valid schedule which would ensure reasonable timelines and quality.

Advice to Senior Management – It is probably too late as much damage has been done, but if possible taking a HARD look at the management and processes in place, compare to why the companies were successful before acquisition. Make changes based on that.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at LexisNexis Legal & Professional

Pros – Good work-life balance, flexible hours

Cons – Poor communication of strategy and tactical implementation from senior management to individual contributors. Culture of CYA and blame makes people reluctant to take calcuated risks and share honest feedback. Even when feedback is provided, no tangible action is taken. Team-oriented culture and benefits diminishing.

Advice to Senior Management – Allow employees to take calculated risks, be more connected to employees. Allow employees to be part of the decision making process or at least allow them to offer solutions to some problems. Some decisions appear to have been made off the cuff without consulting people who could have helped refine and improve the final direction.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at LexisNexis Legal & Professional

Pros – With all the changes, reductions and reorganizations ,that have taken place over the last 12 months, I cannot think of a single reason to work at Lexis anymore. This is a total shame, as this company was a great place to work a few years ago. We had great focus, communication, and morale. We also had great perks that have been eliminated.

Cons – Lack of direction. Lack of commitment to a direction. Continuos turnover. No respect for the employees. Always looking at the short term and ignoring the long term. Never ending reorganizations and reductions in force. Inability to make a decision.

Advice to Senior Management – Hire a true leader and revamp the entire organization. The company is top heavy and there are not enough workers that actually get the work done, since most of them have been eliminated.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at LexisNexis Legal & Professional

Pros – If you are in the right group, then you may be happy. Most benefits are average compared with other companies I've worked at. Immediate management (in Bellevue) is thoughtful and considerate and will usually stand up for us. Work/Life balance despite all the issues I mention, is actually quite good and one of the reasons I would recommend working here.

Cons – You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile. Decisions coming from the mother ship in Dayton are confusing and misguided most of the times. A LOT of people quit in 2008, those that remain (in certain groups) are shellshocked and waiting for the eventual layoff to come. No raises in 2009, sure it's a great time to jump on that bandwagon, but as far as I can tell, the groups here are all extremely profitable and are subsidizing money-losing or ill-thought out plans in Dayton.

Advice to Senior Management – How much money are we saving by removing the subsidized soda? It's really just a symbol of how disconnected Dayton is. The companies that LN bought in Bellevue were thriving at one time, and it is evident that they don't integrate well with Dayton thinking. Offshoring is eventually going to come back to haunt you.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at LexisNexis Legal & Professional

Pros – The promise of what the company should be. The cfompany has so much going for it but seems to be too slow to make the decisions required to keep the company healthy.It is fixable.There are great software products, great content, and great people.

Cons – Failure to keep produicts current. Failure to treat employees with respect. Destroying acquired companies. Not customer-focused. Falls behind the times in business and technology repeatedly.

Advice to Senior Management – Pay attention. Be concerned about the health of the products, businesses, and customer relationships. Not just the financials.I hear senior management saying some of the righ things. Middle management gets some of it wrong. People who are to execute on the plan are demoralized.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend