Clear Analytics, Open Architecture, Can't Lose

The hidden trends in legal technology.

The best thing about ILTACON, the International Legal Technology Association’s annual gathering, is reading between the lines of the speeches, panel discussions, and side chatter with the leading legal industry technology staff and vendors. It’s that “tea leaf reading” that you pick up after ruminating on hours worth of notes and hotel bar chitchat that begins to provide some clarity to where the legal tech world sees itself.

Last year, in Las Vegas, with the right kind of eyes, you could almost see the high-water mark of artificial intelligence, that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back. Everyone started talking about AI as a practical tool as opposed to a magic bean and reality began to hold sway. We also learned last year that it was all about blockchain, even though the use case for firms was still just getting hashed out.

This year, two themes kept striking my ear throughout the show. First, everyone really, really wants you to know they have analytics. And second, that opening up is all the rage.

We’d already seen Thomson Reuters unveil Westlaw Edge, its new tool that not only ups the ante on legal research with some help from artificial intelligence, but delivers some top-flight analytics breaking down the data to tell you more about your case than you may have considered.

At the show, I also got a chance to see what Lexis has up its sleeve for its next-generation offering and, what do you know, it’s all about analytics too. With a system that breaks down both judges and expert witnesses based on the service’s massive repository of case data. Lexis can now show you exactly how Judge Koh, who for some reason is the official judge for every product demo, rules on a motion to dismiss raising similar issues as your matter. But it also goes a step further and will show you specific language she cites 9 times out of 10 in these motions and lets you jump directly to that case. Judges have predilections, and if you’re appearing before Judge Koh, you’d best be citing this sentence or have a damn good answer to it.

But it’s not just the big two research platforms drilling down on analytics. Almost every pitch for every product had some mention of analytics. Perhaps it’s that a profession based on research wants to see every angle of the data. Or perhaps it’s that clients are getting antsy and need to be spoonfed proof of outside counsel’s value proposition. In either event, vendors seem to have zeroed in on analytics as a core part of their pitches.

The second big trend was a focus on openness as a selling point. In years past, companies seemed to pride themselves on providing proprietary solutions that they alone controlled. Whether or not they really built it themselves without outside input was beside the point as long as they could tell a customer that they were capable of providing a solution. In an adolescent sense, it displays some bravado. It tells the customer “trust us that we can give you what you need.”

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This year, the tech market seems to be maturing. Terms like “open architecture” and “API” kept getting tossed around as positive elements of the sales pitch. It’s now cool to admit that your company can’t be all things to all people, but that your product can play well with others to give the customer the solution they want. Some law firms have lasting relationships with other products they don’t want to lose, others have their own development ninjas, and some are even marketing their own tech products. The name of the game is proving you can give them something without screwing up their sandbox. Some folks have been talking about this for years. Microsoft has been integrating other’s products, for instance LawToolBox, into their system for years. That message seems to have taken root across the industry.

Next year, ILTACON will be heading down to Orlando for a week. What tea leaves will Mickey Mouse deliver there I wonder?

Earlier: The Artificial Narrative Of Artificial Intelligence
In Legal, Blockchain Is The New Black
Move Over Westlaw – Meet the Next-Generation Westlaw Edge, With Advanced AI And Analytics
Law Firms Have No Idea Why In-House Counsel Fire Them — Westlaw’s Newest Product Aims To Help Firms Stay On The Job
Biglaw Firm Brings On Technology Development Ninjas


HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.

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