Why Data Competency Is a Requisite for Tomorrow's Practitioners

People within the firm who are using the technology and have attained real expertise are the key to bringing the rest of the profession up to speed. These people are often power users, who have integrated data and analytics into their daily practice, or law librarians or knowledge management professionals.

What Does Data Competence Look Like?

Data competent lawyers have the comfort and skill level to find and manipulate the data they need to make key decisions in very specific legal use cases. For example, they can analyze litigation data to determine the best venue in which to litigate a case. They can look at case timing data in cases similar to their own to more accurately project timelines and costs. They can take a call from a client and immediately pull up the track record of opposing counsel in relevant cases to assess the likelihood of a favorable outcome. They can look at practice area trends and make key decisions about where to allocate resources.

Data competency is all about using legal data on a daily basis to address everyday problems and achieve desired legal and business outcomes. It means being able to accurately quantify key variables like litigation risk, likely case outcomes, potential settlement amounts, the tendencies of specific judges, success rates for patent application and prosecution strategies, or even the validity of a key allegation made by an opponent in a legal matter. A few years ago, lawyers had to rely on "hunches" or anecdotal information to make strategic decisions based on questions like these. An experienced lawyer's instincts are still valuable as hypotheses, but now we are equipped to test those hypotheses and arrive at much more definitive answers to difficult questions.

Promoting Competency Through Formal and Informal Training

A persistent barrier to data literacy and data competency is the legal profession itself, where lawyers constantly find themselves in triage mode or putting out fires. They lack time to learn new skills, and they are wary of cutting into billable hours to engage in activities that they aren't certain will help them do their jobs better. Moving the profession from data literacy to data competency will require a cultural shift comparable to transformations we have seen in other industries.

More firms need to show leadership and commitment in this area. To get good results, any data-focused initiative will have to come from the top. The library or knowledge management divisions of a firm may already offer educational opportunities to those who are interested, but if leadership isn't really behind such programs, they are unlikely to make a significant difference.

Scheduling an event is often the only way to get lawyers to sit down, listen and engage. There are a few forward-looking firms that have developed internal programs to expose their associates and partners to data-focused tools and litigation strategies on a regular basis. Such programs can take the form of a casual lunchtime "Tech Tuesday" presentation or perhaps a more extensive formal "bootcamp" run by the firm's librarians, data-savvy lawyers or both. Another promising long-term strategy is to arrange data- and tool-based training for summer interns, who are primed to learn and likely to be more open to acquiring new technological competencies to distinguish themselves and jumpstart their careers. These interns are likely to be the firm's "data evangelists" of the future. But the goal of any program should be to engage the interest of practitioners, get their hands on the keyboard, and demonstrate with real-life examples that data-focused tools and techniques can help them practice law more effectively and efficiently.

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Josh Becker is LexisNexis Head of Legal Analytics and Chairman, Lex Machina. He is a long-time recognized thought leader on leveraging technology to improve the practice of law. Previously, Josh served as Lex Machina CEO for seven years leading strategy and operations. During his tenure, Lex Machina was acquired by LexisNexis.