Casetext has released a study examining the efficiencies delivered by its new motion drafting platform Compose. Compose was announced this year at Legal Tech in New York. The product which I reviewed back in February enables 
a lawyer to select a motion types in specific jurisdictions, add arguments from a menu for the jurisdiction, select legal standards customized to the arguments and jurisdiction, add facts and authorities using the powerful Parallel Search technology and then customize the draft. The report is called “Increasing Law Firm Profitability using Compose Brief-Drafting technology” and is available at this link.
The study. Participants had never used Compose before. They were shown a 4 minute video and then asked to use the platform to draft a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction based on a complex set of facts. The study included 13 litigators at AmLaw200 firms and/or federal clerkship experience.Each participant was asked to provide an estimate of how long the assignment would take using their normal research process. They were given two hours to complete a draft the brief using Compose. Although two of the 13 could not complete the assignment in two hours the results were still impressive. Using Based on each lawyers estimate using Compose on average the group was 76% faster, saved 5.2 hours per brief and 92% of the lawyers reported reduced risk of missing an argument or a relevant case.
The report also explores the strategic and financial benefits of Compose in terms of reducing write-offs, increasing the profitability of flat fee engagements, and reducing risk.
Kudos to Casetext I have been begging vendors to measure the impact of their products. We all know that no study is perfect, but workflow studies do at least capture snapshots of experience which can be used in the product evaluation and justification process during procurement. At the end of the day if the product does not deliver actual efficiencies it will not survive the next budget round. I have repeatedly begged the largest vendors Lexis, Westlaw, Wolters Kluwer and Bloomberg Law to produce ROI studies and I get a lecture on how complicated it is. Well now we have seen two small companies PacerPro (with Fireman & Company) and Casetext release studies this summer which attempt to take on he admittedly gnarly challenge of measuring the efficiency and ROI delivered by their product. Time for this to become an industry standard. The competition for budget money is intensifying and vendors need to start bringing their ROI to the negotiation table.
Here is a link to the Casetext Compose ROI report
