LEXIS-NEXIS Standardizes on Microsoft Platform

SEATTLE, May 19, 1997 — LEXIS-NEXIS and Microsoft Corp. today announced that LEXIS-NEXIS will develop a Web-based resource for the legal community capable of answering virtually any practice-related need, to be built on the Microsoft® Commercial Internet System.

Microsoft and LEXIS-NEXIS, a leading supplier of online information to the legal community, made the announcement following Microsoft Chairman and CEO Bill Gates’ keynote address at the Association of Legal Administrators Annual Conference here this morning.

“Working with LEXIS-NEXIS is a terrific opportunity for Microsoft because it is a premier supplier of legal information,” said Sam Jadallah, vice president, organization customer unit at Microsoft. “We are pleased to see its extensive, up-to-date content resources provided to customers on Microsoft’s leading-edge platform.”

“We are proud to have Microsoft as our technology associate,” said Ira Siegel , CEO and president of LEXIS-NEXIS. “We feel it is the company with the strongest expertise and resources to help us build the technology components needed to serve the legal profession into the next century.”

Standardizing its Internet operations on the Microsoft Commercial Internet System will enable LEXIS-NEXIS to develop a place where legal professionals can come together to discuss in real time significant legal issues, transfer documents, conduct private conversations with colleagues, purchase legal products in a secure environment, and use special links to the LEXIS-NEXIS services’ legal data warehouse. The Microsoft technology will allow users to personalize this environment based on one’s practice and interests.

The LEXIS-NEXIS legal community on the Web will be designed to include the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser and the Microsoft Commercial Internet System. The Microsoft Commercial Internet System is a comprehensive Internet server solution for commercial service providers that builds upon the Windows NT® Server platform and is a member of the Microsoft BackOffice
™
family. The site is scheduled to be introduced later this year. For continuous updates on the site’s progress, users can browse (http://www.lexis.com/)

“Attorneys will want to visit the site often,” said Ronald W. Staudt, vice president of technology development for legal information services at LEXIS-NEXIS. “There they’ll find Web-based products that dramatically increase the usefulness and security of the Internet for their practices.”

The legal community is the true beneficiary of this latest alliance, which combines the resources of the world’s leading software company with those of the pioneer in electronic legal research, LEXIS-NEXIS, which serves more than 800,000 customers and provides more than 13,500 databases of legal and business information.

“Microsoft and LEXIS-NEXIS have enjoyed a positive working relationship for several years,” explained Gary Cooke, legal industry marketing manager at Microsoft. “These new developments point to a continuation of our joint efforts and broader cooperation in the future.”

The award-winning LEXIS-NEXIS Office suite of legal information management products is one result of the working relationship that has existed between the two companies. That close cooperation is continuing with the integration of LEXIS-NEXIS’ online research service with Microsoft Office 97 to ensure that this vital information flows smoothly from database to desktop, regardless of a firm’s size or a lawyer’s specialty. Microsoft Office 97 includes productivity-enhancing features in Word 97 designed specifically for legal professionals.

Today’s announcement is the product of a strategic relationship between Reed Elsevier plc and Microsoft, announced earlier this month. Reed Elsevier, the parent corporation of LEXIS-NEXIS, agreed to adopt the Microsoft technologies mentioned above as its worldwide platform for delivering its core content.

LEXIS-NEXIS, headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, is the world’s leading provider of enhanced information services and management tools. The company’s mission is to help legal, business and government professionals collect, manage and use information more productively. LEXIS-NEXIS is a division of Reed Elsevier Inc., and a member of the Reed Elsevier plc group (NYSE “RUK”; (http://www.reed-elsevier.com/) one of the world’s leading publishing and information businesses.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.

Microsoft, Windows NT and BackOffice are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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