by Savvas Skordellis
Data is the oil of the digital era,” proclaims The Economist. With that being said, the future of the legal industry is and will be based on data; data is the key to successful outcomes and evolving the practice of law. Law has been slow to adopt data analytics, but that is changing. Big data analytics technologies are becoming ubiquitous in many industries, and the legal sector is not an exception. The legal industry is facing an important challenge with the enormous amount of data generated on a daily basis. Predictive analytics describes the use of statistics and modelling to determine future performance based on current and historical data. In addition, predictive analytics is a discipline that has grown alongside the exponential growth of data in the digital world.
A 2019 survey of Big Data and AI Executives found that: 72% of companies report they have yet to forge a data culture, 69% report that they have not created a data-driven organisation, 53% state that they are not yet treating data as a business asset and 52% admit that they are not competing on data analytics. A McKinsey report reveals data-driven organisations are 23 times more likely to acquire customers; six times as likely to retain customers; and 19 times as likely to be profitable as a result.
In fact, the law contains huge amounts of data from judicial decisions, briefs, articles, commentaries, legislative texts and other documents. Legal data includes fact patterns, precedents and case outcomes. This data is the foundation of legal predictive analysis. Nowadays, the legal industry is making use of this type of analysis to improve overall efficiency and accuracy. The software comes with language-based technologies that easily scan, read, and synthesise written documents. Predictive analytics looks at patterns in data to determine if those patterns are likely to emerge again.
In a nutshell, is the science of drawing insights from large volumes of data. Also, “Big Data” is frequently a core component of related technologies, incorporating developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Cognitive Computing (CC). Those innovations can fall under the umbrella of analytics too. For example, NLP can help contract review and reading legal agreements, such as due diligence documents or leases. In some cases, this also means helping people to finalise contracts. NLP is many times faster than human lawyers at reading contracts, while accuracy levels in matters such as due diligence are generally higher than that achieved by human lawyers.
There are obvious benefits of a data analytics-driven culture, but what it is not so obvious is how to achieve it. What are the steps that the legal industry needs to take to get from where it is now to where it wants to be with data? Using data well creates value and develops a successful strategy, and predictive analytics lies in knowing a balance between data and people. Predictive legal analytics is an emerging sector as the legal industry remains hesitant to introduce technology into a very traditional, human-driven process.
Predictive analytics can help law firms decide the optimal composition of teams and ensure all needs are covered by relevant expertise, including deciding on what outside counsel, consulting, strategic partnership or individuals best fits the client’s needs. Using predictive analytics in the hiring process helps match the right candidates to the firm as well as selecting individuals both for ad hoc projects and long-term relationships. It can also be used for e-billing systems to determine how the workload is distributed and whether any practice areas need additional support.
Like any other legal technology, predictive analytics can take over many legal tasks and reduce the ordinary but essential work involved in each case. Legal research and litigation prediction systems involve the examination of data that are produced from the practice of law. Data could be expert opinions on legal matters by the partners of the firm; statements of facts about laws and regulations; relevant cases and commentaries by judges; as well as any associated case notes or updates that the firm has created itself or is linked to.
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