P2P

8 P E E R T O P E E R : I L T A ' S Q U A R T E R L Y M A G A Z I N E | F A L L 2 0 2 0 F R O M T H E P U B L I C A T I O N S L I A I S O N T here is a lot of discussions about data science and data analytics in law firms to benefit both the front office and back office functions. The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in law firms is an established technology with a myriad of technology applications. Predictions for law firm technology showed trending with the data sciences technologies bourgeoning in all areas of law firms. Insert. Global. Pandemic. Unfortunately, the numbers that show technologies are experiencing slower adoption than predicted cannot be quantified as due to some market barriers or because of the extraordinary shift over to remote-inspired security/cloud technologies. Regardless, the AI/ML adoption is increasing, certainly, as uses are expanded and proven – however it may not be considered "mainstream" just yet for law firms. My experience is somewhat limited and my thoughts are provided from a perspective of information governance and discovery management. If we look at the corpus of the ILTA membership and use the tech survey as the litmus test of activity, data science could be considered as lagging behind forecasted levels of law firm implementation. There are definitely areas where AI / ML experience greater adoption - legal research and contract review, for example. In the survey response numbers from 2017 forward, they are stagnant with over half the respondents not considering AI / ML; about a quarter are researching and a small number are implementing technologies. The data sciences' version of low-hanging fruit is text provided in a structured format - legal research, discovery and contract reviews are ripe for the indexing of predictably formatted documents. The cost benefit of the intervention of the (expensive) human processes to apply technology to those functions has been the impetus for adoption and expansion into other areas. Service providers and consultants see the benefits of expanding data science tools into document automation, IP analysis, predicting legal outcomes and leveraging trends / patterns uncovered in historical data. In my experience, many law firms specialize in holding historical data. Additional tools can help firms apply analytic tools to e-Billing and evaluating client guidelines to be most efficient in those back office functions. Data Science and Analytics T O O L S , T I P S , A N D T H I N K I N G O U T S I D E T R A D I T I O N A L T E C H N O L O G I E S

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