Peer to Peer Magazine

45 WWW.ILTANET.ORG Transforming the Practice and Business of Law with Litigation Intelligence FEATURES ELAINE KNECHT Elaine Knecht is Director of Information Resources at Barclay Damon, LLP. She manages print and digital libraries for 200+ attorneys and provides general and legal research services as well as group and individual search instruction. She holds BFA, MFA and MLS degrees from the State University of New York at Buffalo with concentrations in music and library science. This was exactly the case with the merger of Hiscock & Barclay and Damon Morey in 2015. Barclay Damon, the newly formed law firm, now comprises 275 aorneys in 33 practice areas spread across 11 areas. It is the largest law firm in upstate New York, with offices in Canada and along the Northeast corridor. Almost immediately the demand for litigation research and business intelligence grew dramatically and the firm's two full-time professional librarians were overwhelmed with requests. It soon became clear that the new firm needed a beer solution to access to the needed information. What we needed, it turned out, was powerful, efficient litigation intelligence technology. Feeling the Pressure Up to that point, the firm's legal research efforts had relied on Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) to monitor cases and access information available in federal dockets. There were several limitations with this approach. PACER is limited to federal cases, and the escalating cost was proving prohibitive as aorneys and librarians, determined not to miss any pertinent information, downloaded and printed massive volumes of research on a price-per- page basis; the results then had to be sied to find the relevant data. Just weeks aer the merger was completed, it was clear the status quo was inefficient, labor- intensive and costly — not sustainable. The firm needed to reevaluate its current research technologies and find a beer option. The goal was multifold: relieve the immense pressure on aorney and law librarian staff, manage escalating costs and streamline the research process to be quicker and more targeted. The firm also hoped that the selected solution would enhance its business The merger of two law firms brings with it the obvious challenge of combining two different groups of lawyers and their associated practices into one cohesive force. But there are other, less visible challenges, such as the pressure a merger puts on an already busy library staff to now support the needs of a much larger number of attorneys across a broader set of subject areas. development efforts by providing beer insights into the needs of potential clients and a clear view of the latest legal trends. Wanted: Comprehensive Data, Faster Searching, New Insights In short, Barclay Damon required a technology solution that could streamline legal research and case preparation workflow and inform winning litigation strategies. Following a thorough review of a number of market options, Barclay Damon found a docket-data intelligence solution that included faster and more precise searching and a comprehensive database of both state and federal court records that was available on demand and delivered in easy-to-grasp graphical formats. This technology improves the practice of law by helping researchers find relevant information more quickly and enabling a strategic, facts-based approach to the details of case management, incorporating information about organizations, parties, lawyers, experts and judges. In addition, the solution supports and enhances the business of legal practice by helping the firm identify potential clients, monitor filings that could turn into new business, assess the strengths and weaknesses of competitors and locate potential new hires for specific areas of expertise. From a search perspective, a key factor in the selection of the subscription-based service was the ability to access both federal and state dockets via a single full-text search interface. The service draws from civil and criminal cases as well as new complaints and filings that are made available as they are recorded. Initial search results can be quickly narrowed down by a point of law, for instance, or by a jurisdiction, judge or party of interest. From a search perspective, a key factor in the selection of the subscription- based service was the ability to access both federal and state dockets via a single full-text search interface.

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