The survey is jointly supported by the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians and the Society for Legal Scholars. It aims to offer an annual assessment and benchmarking of academic law library services, funding and collections across the UK and Ireland. The 2025/26 survey is substantially revised, with special thanks to Marilyn Clarke and Laura Griffiths of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, and to members from Scotland and Ireland.
The survey covers the 2025/26 academic year (1 August 2025 to 31 July 2026). Please submit only 1 response per institution. The survey is open until 31 August 2026 and we encourage as many institutions as possible to complete it to ensure statistically meaningful results.
New to the survey this year are more flexible options on budgets and questions about the use of AI technologies. Results of the survey will be available to members in Autumn 2026.
If you encounter any difficulties with the survey, please contact Jackie Hanes at president@biall.org.uk.
Jackie Hanes has been appointed President of the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians (BIALL).
Jackie is a Research and Academic Support Librarian at the University of Warwick, where she delivers library services to students and staff in the Warwick Law School. She has 25 years’ experience in academic law librarianship, having also worked at the College of Law, Birmingham and University of Leicester. Jackie was the recipient of the Wildy/BIALL Law Librarian of the Year in 2024 in recognition of her contribution to the Association. She has previously served as Treasurer, Conference Finance Officer, and Committee Chair and brings a wealth of experience to the role of BIALL President.
Jackie paid tribute to her predecessor, Sinead Curtin, saying “Sinead’s confident leadership of BIALL, revision of constitutional documents, and implementation of legal technologies, has modernised the Association. She leaves us well placed to address the opportunities and challenges facing the future of our profession, and I look forward to working with her as she steps into the role of Immediate Past President”. Speaking about the value of the Association, Jackie said “my membership of BIALL has been instrumental in the development of my career as a law librarian, and I am honoured to lead the Association in the year ahead. With my background in education, and experience on the Professional Development and Conference committees, I am committed to advancing the Association’s professional development remit for the benefit of all members. I am particularly keen to support new and early career professionals as they enter the law library and information sector at an exciting time”.
Outgoing President Sinéad Curtin notes “I am delighted to see Jackie take on the role of BIALL President. She brings so much experience to the role, from her time as Treasurer, as Chair of the Professional Development Committee and most recently, as President Elect. I look forward to working with her in the year ahead.”
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The 2026 Wallace Breem Memorial Award is awarded to James Goudkamp from the Faculty of Law, University of Oxford
The Wallace Breem Memorial Award is presented every two years and is sponsored by The Inner Temple and BIALL. The Award, worth £600, is designed to recognise especially good contributions to law librarianship or provide financial assistance for special research or other projects at doctorate level or above. The broad terms of the Award allow the adjudication panel to consider the widest range of publications, projects in-hand or proposed, assistance with travel or research costs, and so on.
The Award was inaugurated in 1990 in memory of Wallace Breem, former librarian of The Inner Temple Library and a founder member of BIALL who, at various times, held the offices of Secretary, Treasurer, Chairman, Vice-President and President. This year’s winners are honoured for their revision of the OSCOLA standard for the citation of legal authorities.
First published in 2000 but last updated only in 2012, the new edition has been many years in the making, during which time editor James Goudkamp and colleagues at the University of Oxford have attended meetings of academic special interest groups and consulted widely with the academic law library community to solicit feedback on previous editions. The new edition amounts to a substantial revision, creating a single guide that incorporates UK, EU and International law and addresses the complexities of digital legal information. The team’s commitment to OSCOLA represents a significant contribution to the legal education and academic law library sectors.
]]>The BIALL Supplier of the Year Award 2026 has been awarded to Vable
The aim of this award is to reward outstanding best practice by a supplier or a publisher in the field of legal information by:- Recognising and rewarding excellence and innovation in customer relations
- Promoting awareness of how customer relations initiatives can benefit information professionals and suppliers alike
- Encouraging high quality communication
- Promoting best practice.
The BIALL Account Manager of the Year Award has been awarded to Alison Rae, Strategic Account Manager at Lexis Nexis
Nominations are sought to recognise an individual working for a supplier who has gone the extra mile, or someone who provides a consistently outstanding service. Ali has proven herself to be an exceptional account manager over the past year, and it is my pleasure to put her forward for this well-deserved recognition. Ali truly exemplifies the qualities that the BIALL Account Manager of the Year Award is designed to celebrate. Quotes include: From the outset, Ali displayed remarkable dedication to understanding our organisation’s needs. She was impressively organised, making sure that any outstanding issues were promptly addressed and resolved. Over the subsequent two years, Ali has consistently delivered a level of service that has exceeded our expectations. Ali’s appreciation for the complexity of our global relationship has been invaluable. She quickly recognised that while the central account management connection was based in the US, the UK and EMEA contracts also played a significant role in our partnership with LexisNexis. Previously, the US and UK teams held separate account calls, but thanks to Ali’s flexibility, I was able to move to integrated US/UK account calls. This shift ensured that our vendor/client relationship became truly collaborative and transparent across the board. Notably, these calls were initially scheduled in line with US timings, often outside UK working hours, yet Ali always managed to participate with enthusiasm and adaptability. The true measure of Ali’s commitment became evident during the challenging renewal process in the second half of 2025. We were undertaking an early global renewal, which required collaboration with LexisNexis teams across France, the Middle East, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Ali took the lead in coordinating all EMEA business units, ensuring that every piece of necessary information was available exactly when required. Her efforts were nothing short of herculean, and I am confident that, without Ali’s leadership and coordination in the EMEA region, this global renewal would not have been the success it was. The outcome allowed us to align and right-size contracts worldwide - an achievement that has had a tangible impact on our business. Ali’s proactive approach extends beyond day-to-day account management. She frequently shares relevant industry news and product updates, ensuring that our organisation is always well informed and able to make the best use of our LexisNexis resources. Her technical expertise is matched by a genuine warmth and approachability, making her a trusted partner to colleagues in the Library team globally. Ali has built lasting relationships with our team and is held in the highest regard by everyone who has worked with her. Whether managing routine matters or more complex challenges, Ali’s diligence, enthusiasm, and ability to anticipate our needs have made a real difference to our experience. Her background in law firm libraries gives her unique insight and empathy, setting her apart as one of the finest account managers I have worked with in more than thirty years, and this view has also been echoed by colleagues in other firms who have also had the pleasure of working with her. Ali consistently demonstrated an exceptional understanding of our organisation’s strategic priorities, budgetary pressures and information needs. She adopts a proactive, solutions‑focused approach, ensuring that LexisNexis products and services are aligned with our immediate requirements and our longer‑term objectives. What really sets Ali apart is the strength of her relationship management. She is responsive, reliable and highly approachable, combining deep product knowledge with a clear appreciation of the practical realities faced by Information Services teams. Nothing is ever too much trouble, and over the past 12 months she has worked collaboratively and effectively with stakeholders across our whole firm. Ali’s professionalism, integrity and consistent delivery make her an outstanding Account Manager and a trusted partner. She truly exemplifies best practice in vendor relationship management, and working with her is a genuine pleasure. Procurement can be challenging at times, but having an Account Manager like Ali brings a real sense of positivity to our work and reinforces just how much can be achieved through strong, collaborative vendor relationships.]]>The LexisNexis Award for Excellence is awarded to the Research & Information Services Team at Charles Russell Speechlys LLP
The LexisNexis Awards for Excellence were conceived to recognise, celebrate and reward the dedicated performance and outstanding service given by legal information services, law libraries and those teams managing legal collections and resources. These awards are unique in that they are the only legal information service awards that recognise the value and importance of dedicated teamwork within our sector. We look for winners who can demonstrate best practice within their organisation, either via the implementation of a new service or change to an existing service. The Research & Information Services Team at Charles Russell Speechlys LLP are recognised as trusted advisors when it comes to legal research, information management and horizon scanning; and for all these things they are the first port of call when support or advice is required. The team recently rolled out a password management module so that end users do not have to remember a long list of credentials – they can access digital resources seamlessly while reducing the frustration of forgotten or lost passwords The team has also actively participated in the firm’s AI Accelerator training programme, running live firm-wide training that has built confidence in their end users. The team has provided bespoke sessions focused on specific topics to help teams maximise efficient use of the system. The team successfully launched the Vable content management service, setting up a series of searches, configuring sources and keywords and creating a daily email alert to highlight the content. The efficiency of the new system has proved extremely popular with users, and the Vable self-service platform has also demonstrated its worth in facilitating trainee rotation, saving hours of staff time in managing subscriptions. Vable has also been used to create in-depth content on themes such as the Building Safety Act, Artificial Intelligence, digital assets and financial crime, in conjunction with alerts on the firm’s key client programme. Despite the challenges of running several projects concurrently, the team is now reaping the benefits of these efficiencies, freeing up time for collaboration with fee-earners, knowledge development lawyers and business development managers to understand their information needs and create solutions tailor-made for them. Pictured: Matthew Leopold (Head of Marketing, LexisNexis), Polyxeni Saat (Information Services Officer, Charles Russell Speechlys), Jas Breslin (Research and Information Services Senior Manager, Charles Russell Speechlys), Sinead Curtin (BIALL President)]]>- Every year BIALL donates to a local charity so please do not forget to bring cash (notes only)!! These year all proceeds will go to Homeless Project Scotland. The charity raffle will be taking place during the annual dinner and we will be using donation envelopes. There are no ATMs in the hotel but there are a few available nearby just in case you need to make a stop.
- You can get to the Hilton, Glasgow (1 William St, Glasgow G3 8HT) with no issue from the airport. Either take a taxi for a short jaunt or you can hop on the First Bus Glasgow to Glasgow Bothwell Street and take a short walk. If you are taking the train into Glasgow Central then it is just a leisurely stroll over to the hotel.
- The BIALL App is live! Please download the conference app which will have all the important information you need including the programme, speaker's biographies and photos, exhibitor list, etc.
- Interview with legal design guru Emily Allbon
- Lincoln’s Inn Library Profile
- Where are the New Law Librarians?
- BIALL’s Big Plastic Count
- Go to the BIALL website and click on Member Resources from the top menu bar
- You will now be asked to log into the website
- Once on the Member Resources page, scroll down to the Publications section
- Click on ‘Legal Information Management (LIM) On Edinburgh University Press’
- You will be transferred to the EUP website, and you will be authenticated to access content on the EUP platform