People might associate Big Data with the future of multiple industries but the exponential advancements in Artificial Intelligence, Data Science and the Internet of things have ensured present is equally affected by it.
Big Data is no longer the promising buzzword reminiscing of a distant future. The future’s already happening before our very eyes.
- Every person in the world generates 1.7 megabytes data in but a second
- The market is expected to grow by 20% in 2019, and by 2023 the BD analytics market is expected to reach $103 billion
- 2% of organisations are investing in Big Data, and cases such as Netflix saving $1 billion per year on customer retention alone illustrate the trend’s capability of showing an earth shattering ROI
The legal industry is not an exception as it already started to adopt and master Big Data analytics to cut a few corners, get more cases, price them properly, and of course, to win them!
Legal Analytics
While the term Legal analytics originated back in 2013, the full extent of its definition is unclear even today. The biggest issue is that businesses, law firms, and private practitioners use different tools and solutions.
All of these tools share common roots as all of them are powered by AI and Big Data analysis, but they may drastically differ one from another when it comes to the delivery of viable results.
If there’s one thing that can be said for certain, it is that Legal analytics work regardless of how or why one uses them. According to an ALM survey that questioned 300 librarians, trial attorneys and litigators from Am Law 200 firms, a whopping 90% see real value in Legal Analytics.
By that definition, we are safe to deduce that Legal Analytics are an amalgamation of AI-powered tools used to gather, store, protect, and analyze colossal volumes of legal, sensitive, and personal data.
As for the various use cases:
Legal Analytics in saving costs
From having all of the most valuable data at one’s fingertips instead of gathering dust in a file folder among the endless shelves of a library to automating every step of the client management/nurturing process, Legal Analytics shines brightest when it saves time -the very same billable time Senior Partners use to work with clients instead of diving heads-deep into the administrative routine.
Legal Analytics in winning new clients
82% of responders from the ALM survey state that Legal Analytics offers great value in attracting new clients. More on the matter, they are planning to use LA more frequently in their work.
Frankly, why wouldn’t they when a smart use of data can:
- Quantify one’s relevant experience
- Compare said experience to the ones from the biggest competitors
- Assist in designing a killer pitch deck
- Demonstrate proven, relevant experience instead of treating the clients with the so-called “overall approach”
Legal Analytics in winning big!
Winning a case in the court of law is almost always based on knowing the precedent. With legal Analytics, one can process an entire history of relevant cases based on certain keywords or precedents in a matter of moments.
Yes, AI is quite skilled at finding peculiar patterns that can be related to prior litigations. This knowledge helps building up a couple of facts lawyers can use as an ace in the sleeve. Knowledge about prior similar cases grants understanding of other factors, such as the approximate duration of the litigation, time to trial, and time to termination per judge!
Projects like DISCO that are currently utilised by more than a third of Am Law 200 companies simplify (and even trivialise) e-discovery.
Brainspace harnesses advanced Machine Learning power and continuously trains itself in winning cases based on the firm’s previous track record and available data.
Ravel Law can identify patterns and pinpoint data related to everything from state case outcomes to judge’s typical rulings.
All that – at a tip of one’s finger.
So yes, saying that Big data analytics is fuelling the next Big Bang in the legal industry is not an overstatement. If anything, it is probably going to surpass our expectations.
