Law Times

Law Times • sepTember 26, 2016 Page 5 www.lawtimesnews.com Legal analytics highlighted at tech forum Use data to express value better to clients BY ALEX ROBINSON Law Times E very organization in law needs a data strategy, says Daniel Martin Katz. The associate law pro- fessor at the Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent Col- lege of Law says law firms can be better predictors of their ser- vices if they capture and analyze their data. "We care about data because we want to be able to predict things," Katz told the Emerging Legal Technology Forum pre- sented in partnership by Thom- son Reuters and MaRS LegalX in Toronto last week. Doing things differently was top of mind at the conference, where lawyers, startups and legal tech enthusiasts came together to talk about how technology is changing the legal industry. Katz said there can be a huge difference between what a legal process is and what a law firm thinks that process is — and data can help illuminate that gap. "As you begin to collect data, you find out there are steps in this process you don't even have ref lected in your process," Katz said. Pursuing such strategies will likely have to be done in incre- mental steps, as partners will likely want to see a return on their investment before fully committing to the process. One step is creating a process map, in which all processes being car- ried out within a firm are identi- fied, linked and logged. Mapping out such processes can help firms become better predictors of risks, outcomes, how much certain types of litiga- tion will cost and how long cer- tain matters will take. Data can also help in e-dis- covery and transactional work by predicting relevant docu- ments and contract terms, Katz said. All of this in the end allows firms to better express the value of their services to clients, he said. "You can't say how great your services are with no real mea- sure of what you've actually ac- complished. It doesn't work," Katz told the audience. The conference also featured a panel discussing legal analyt- ics systems that are mining data both inside and outside of firms. These systems are looking to help counsel make better deci- sions based on math and data, rather than instinct. Unlocking the potential of that data can be key to helping lawyers make those decisions, panellists said. "Information is terrific, but answers are even better," said Matt Gillis, the president of Neota Logic Inc. — an artificial intelligence software platform. Data scientists who attended the conference said they were at- tracted to the legal world for the same reasons as lawyers: They think it's important. The fact that there is so much opportu- nity to grow also makes it an ap- pealing landscape for them. But law firms are not neces- sarily ready to embrace what they can access through legal analytics. The younger genera- tion of lawyers is certainly more tech savvy, but it is also still built with the same risk aversion as its predecessors, says Intapp, Inc. data scientist Jennifer Roberts. Startups and companies that are mining legal data outside of firms seek to provide acces- sible statistics to clients based on math and the vast amount of un- structured legal data that exists. Toby Unwin, chief innova- tion officer at Premonition LLC, said the transparency such ser- vices can provide will have a big impact on the legal industry. Premonition is a Florida- based company that uses ma- chine learning to mine the data in legal documents in order to rate lawyers based on factors that include outcomes and the length of trials. This will provide information about the success of different firms and lawyers to give the ability to choose counsel based on data. The company is set to arrive in Canada at the end of Septem- ber. Unwin noted that lawyers belong to one of few professions where the less efficient you are, the more you get paid. He added this might be a reason that legal tech has not moved forward as fast as other technological sec- tors have. He said that legal tech is about 15 years behind finan- cial industry innovation. Firms may be reticent to em- brace that data as it can leave them exposed. He said that some firms bluff about what their suc- cess rates are, but services like the ones his company provides can change these things. "Every great change will come from transparency," he said. LT NEWS Daniel Martin Katz says data can help in e-discovery and transactional work by predicting relevant documents and contract terms. Photo: Alex Robinson When you're working, Grow your business and acquire new clients with a full-service online marketing solution. Raise your profile and enhance the quantity and quality of your files by partnering with a team that delivers everything that is cutting edge and innovative in marketing. The best part is that we'll do all the heavy lifting for you, because when you're working, we're working. LawyerMarketingCanada.com 1-844-525-4355 we're working. Untitled-5 1 2016-09-20 2:44 PM

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