Bob Ambrogi and I have a running dispute. He says I was the first one to ask whether it might be malpractice to not use legal data analytics in today’s litigation world. I say he was the first one to ask that very legitimate question.
But it really doesn’t matter who first coined the question. Recent results from the third annual Legal Analytics Survey by LexisNexis suggests if the answer is not already yes, it’s getting darn close to it.
Here are some key stats from the Study entitled Bringing Legal Analytics Into Focus:
70% of large law firms use legal analytics tools,
75% of respondents report an increase in usage at their firm over the last year.
73% of respondents at firms with access to the tools report using legal analytics, either directly or indirectly.
Among users, 90% say the technology makes them better lawyers, and 92% plan to increase use over the next year.
Litigation analytics is now mainstream
Pretty impressive numbers. Clearly, among large firms, litigation analytics is now mainstream.
And analytics are not just used to gain litigation insights. According to the Survey, over three-quarters of analytics users say “gaining competitive insights’” is very to somewhat important. Other important uses include “pricing projects or legal matters” (68%) and “competitive intelligence for pursuing new business” (67%). What this means is that if you aren’t using analytics, you simply are at a competitive disadvantage especially in the large law firm market.
Another vital metric: 81% of users say use of legal analytics is encouraged or looked upon favorably by clients. “The results from this year’s study clearly show we’ve reached a tipping point in the legal analytics adoption curve driven by competitive pressures, the