Predictive analytics also finds its use in law firms when examining the historical data of past cases. By considering the features of a case, predictive models can be constructed to "guess" what a given judge’s ruling may be regarding a matter. This approach can help firms estimate the potential for associate churn or anticipate future areas of practice that may slow down given the current socioeconomic climate. The ability to have "correct" answers to train a machine learning model gives this use case applicability across a variety of potential areas for law firms where resource allocation optimization results in improved client service.
Further, predictive analytics is most effective when it uses a firm’s data. Using a firm’s data provides insight into trends of its client data, offering a competitive advantage by providing an opportunity for firms to enhance the service for their clients by developing plans for low billing each year or offering certain legal services at different times over the year—personalizing the client service model to what clients want. Law firms can additionally leverage this data to aid in attaining digital maturity, which enables digital transformation—a highly sought-after trait in law firms.
Improving Legal Practice Management
Predictive analytics is a game-changer for law firms, arming lawyers with the ability to predict case outcomes. This type of data analysis allows firms to review historical trends and data to make decisions about which types of cases to take and how to distribute resources in a way that is both operationally sound and satisfying to the client (because the client can get a more precise prediction at the onset of a case).
The technology also allows firms to more effectively execute on the risk management front, because lawyers can develop a set of well-defined, data-driven risk parameters, identify risks to clients or the firm at the onset of a case, and put a plan in place to mitigate those risks, thereby safeguarding client and law firm business interests.
Gaining Client Insights
Leverages data – Predictive analytics use data to find patterns in client behaviors and preferences, helping law firms to gain a complete customer view. Firms can review historical data to identify patterns, which can provide indications of future events. Thus, the firms can develop packages of services that clients are likely to find attractive and be willing to pay for. The development of applications like these, which require solutions based on the combination of services, enables a very personalized approach to the practice of law. The firm will use every available piece of data about a client to create a strategy for arguing the client's case. The strategy won't be developed in a void but will be informed by data about client preferences. The firm will try different strategies and see which one "sticks." If the firm's representative is personally working with a client, the representative will want to find how certain he or she can be that this side will win.
Achieving a Competitive Advantage
Predictive analytics is a game-changer in the legal industry, allowing law firms to build out solutions for clients before they're even needed, and prepare for market trends as they emerge. Many law firms already have operations-related data to help them understand how long certain things take, where the inefficiencies might be in the firm, and based on that, can make analytics-based decisions on just about any data in a law firm (what type of clients, trends in industry or practice, adoption of technology, firm resource use/allocation, use of legal tech, and client data for better service delivery, etc.) and other strategic decisions. It will help firms position themselves more securely in the market and for future competitive edge and growth, and those processes that are most importantly for survival; legal technology education is essential.
You’ve got to understand the technology of where it’ll go in the future. Integrating tech in a law firm strategy is the key to firm survival and success, but not just strategy: Understand how general technology works. The extent of capability, and to be knowledgeable of shortly available tech (what’s on the horizon) so that we’ll stay educated informed about things in order to "bake it all in" to your operations.
Understanding Predictive Analytics in the Legal Field
Predictive analytics uses a variety of high-powered statistical methods and machine learning techniques to evaluate massive amounts of historical legal data to uncover patterns and other insights. This process allows data-mining teams to use the results of the analytics applications for predictive modeling purposes. Lawyers and their support staff can use the results to serve their clients better.
Lawyers can also use the results of the projects to manage their firms better. They can use the information to figure out new marketing techniques for obtaining new clients or selling more legal services to existing clients. The legal profession no longer evaluates the success of junior partners and senior associates by discovering the best and most persuasive arguments for their clients’ cases by spending a weekend or two in the firm’s law library.
Enhancing Data-Driven Decision Making
Predictive analytics is a game-changer that allows law firms the ability to make data-driven decisions. It involves pulling data from various sources, such as historical case outcomes, trends, and client behaviors. These thoughts help inform day-to-day decisions in the office as a firm is selecting which cases to handle, assigning cases to the most appropriate person, and coming up with unique strategies related to the case. This insight can help to transform a firm into becoming a very data-driven organization with every given project having optimally set parameters.
The transformation of the firm would significantly streamline operations, point out trends to look for, and possibly save enough time to slip an additional case into the day's workload. Just as each case has a unique story, so does each project.
Predictive analytics allows a law firm to make a historical data-based decision by analyzing the outcomes of thousands of cases. Firms can therefore focus on the correct areas (those that will give them the most bang for their buck), predict with greater certainty what will happen in a particular case, whether they want to represent the client at all based on the risk analysis, and be more efficient with the application of their resources - because their attorneys won't spend time spinning their wheels doing work on areas of a case that do not matter.
Predictive analytics removes a good amount of practice-management waste for law firms, in that lawyers spend a great percentage of their time working in areas where they are familiar (and, therefore, can work faster) and doing work that is relevant to the client’s case. Workflows are easier to manage; and, as the old manufacturing adage goes, “The most valuable play in the factory is the one that is the most efficient.”
Predictive analytics also drives the cost response of total clients served and provides insights to the firm related to the services that clients want, based on their current and future predicted needs. Firms become better manufacturing engines, accomplishing increasingly higher ROI for the firm and higher service grades for the total number of clients served.
