Legal organizations may be investing in technology, but the professionals needed to run that tech can be tough to find. However, a new group believes that legal data intelligence analysts are the key to integrating legal data and knowledge across businesses
The explosion of business data is not a new trend. In fact, the total amount of data created worldwide has increased 74-fold to 149 zettabytes in 2014 from 2 zettabytes in 2010. And by 2028, that figure is expected to more than double once again. (For the uninitiated, 1 zettabyte equals 1 trillion gigabytes.)
That means for corporate law departments, data presents both a risk and an opportunity. There are the governance, privacy, and security questions involved in holding large amounts of data, of course; however, at the same time, there is the opportunity to leverage data to more effectively move law departments towards the Holy Grail, which has been passed down by their C-suites: Legal functions should operating more as a business unit, rather than a cost center.
“Every company generates more data than they need, honestly,” says Adam Rouse, Senior Counsel, E-Discovery Operations, and Director of Legal Operations at Walgreens. “But if you can sort through that data and get it to a useful state, you can enable or empower your legal partners to help your business partners make better data-driven decisions.”
Within the legal sphere, much has been made of getting data systems to converse with one another. If billing systems are connected to contracting systems which in turn are connected to case management systems and so on, in-house legal counsel would then be able to get a more comprehensive view of their matters and the business impact of their department.
Every company generates more data than they need, honestly; but if you can sort through that data and get it to a useful state, you can enable or empower your legal partners to help your business partners make better data-driven decisions.
Of course, that raises a complementary, but perhaps less talked about question: What about the people handling all that disparate data? Many larger legal departments either segment their technology from their attorneys, or have technologists focus on a specific discipline such as contracting, discovery, or something else. The idea of generalist legal technologists — professionals who not only know the technology, but the larger data systems tying the department together — are still rather rare.
A new initiative aims to have people in place to tie this data together, however; and that could give rise to a new role within corporate law departments and law firms alike: legal data intelligence analyst.
Jack-of-all-data
Rouse is one of the founding members of Legal Data Intelligence (LDI), an association of leading legal professionals gathered to address the increasingly complex data challenges facing the legal industry. At its core is the LDI model, which explores various use cases for legal data and how these use cases can interact with one another.
There are other legal industry technology architecture models as well: the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM), which focuses on e-discovery; CLOC’s Core 12 framework of legal operations; and more. But where Rouse and the LDI co-founders want to stand out is by not just focusing on the technology, but on how the technologists involved can make a business impact — and in the process advance their own careers.
“We are really focused on the people, and so it’s not just, Here’s a workflow, implement it,” Rouse explains. “It’s Here’s a workflow, and here’s how you can demonstrate that you as an individual can add value and to the organization.”
At Walgreens, Rouse has put this core belief into practice. His team previously had two members with the titles Legal Operations and Legal Hold Analyst and E-discovery Analyst — both with very specific, albeit segmented job titles. Now, both have the same job title: Legal Data Intelligence Analyst.
The idea, Rouse says, is that legal technologists should be focused on more than one piece of the puzzle, similar to how in-house generalist attorneys function. Now, rather than focusing specifically on litigation, these team members can feel more empowered to aid in compliance investigations, privacy issues, or transactional work. With the switch, he feels that his team is now more adequately relied upon — and rewarded — for the work they’re actually doing.
“We were doing that work before, because we knew how to do it, but if you looked at the job descriptions of the folks that reported to me, none of that was taken into account. It was a lot of side work,” Rouse explains. “And coming to the end-of-year review cycle, or trying to do promotions and figure out how my employees are adding value to the company? It became a little bit more difficult to say, Oh well, we did this huge compliance thing.”
“I think having people in these roles that can do that and who also understand the core technology and the legal implications of how we’re using the data that comes out of those platforms — that’s critical.”
He added with a laugh that he very much does not want to lose his team members but does believe that the expanded job roles could help their prospects outside of Walgreens as well. “I think this enables their career growth, because they can go to a compliance person, they can go to a privacy person, they can go to another e-discovery person and say, Yeah, I’m familiar with that. We did all this work across the legal organization.”
Getting the most from talent
The LDI organization itself boasts 33 architects from various corporate legal departments, law firms, and legal service providers who are tasked with moving this idea forward. One, Kelly Friedman of Heuristica, even gained the world’s first title of Chief Legal Data Intelligence Officer. However, even beyond the initiative itself, it’s clear that legal technology personnel may need to be reimagined.
Indeed, law firm technology investment has consistently risen over the past decade, largely above inflation, according to data from the Thomson Reuters Institute’s latest Law Firm Financial Index report. And statistics from its State of the Corporate Law Department Report also echo the same sort of investment that’s occurring on the in-house side of the equation.
Yet even with that explosion in investment, the personnel to handle this technology needs to keep up. “The job market and the talent space are still really tight in these fields, and it’s not easy to find good talent,” Rouse notes, adding that’s especially true as an increased number of legal departments and law firms are vying for operations experts.
The solution may be to place those people in situations in which they can succeed. For example, it’s important to identify those unicorns — legal operations professionals who understand both the legal and the technology side of the equation — and figure out how they can provide the most value to the organization at large, Rouse adds. For many, that may mean spreading their knowledge widely, rather than segmenting it just in litigation or another role.
“I think having people in these roles that can do that and who also understand the core technology and the legal implications of how we’re using the data that comes out of those platforms — that’s critical,” Rouse says. “And it’s a skill that is portable between roles and between functions, because that is the underlying challenge of mostly everything in the legal field.”
The result may be a rising tide that lifts all boats, allowing for easier shifting of both data and knowledge throughout the organization, he adds. “If commercial litigation is going to go and do a whole bunch of data analytics, why shouldn’t compliance or privacy be able to benefit from all the work that’s being done in these other areas?”
You can download a copy of the Thomson Reuters Institute’s recent State of the Corporate Law Department Report here
