What Will the Future of Legal Technology Look Like?

A number of new technologies, including visual analytics, are poised to fundamentally alter the legal industry. The days of traditional linear review for e-disovery purposes are gradually fading away. This stale approach makes it easy to look over facts that might have played an important role in a case. Such conventional workflows were effective prior to tech improvements that have emerged as viable alternatives. Today’s highly complex data mining technologies designed with e-discovery in mind, are making legal work that much easier.

The Rise of Visual Analytics

Conventional linear review is currently being upended by visual analytics. This form of analytics is dramatically altering the manner in which legal technology is currently used and will be used in the future. Nowadays, when an investigation occurs, attorneys can collect documents according to nuanced criteria, sort the data set according to search terms and perform a review to gauge relevance. The concept of visual analysis allows for fact-finding quicker than what used to be possible with the traditional linear approach. Visual analytics considers information from a bird’s eye view so attorneys can locate and comprehend important information quickly and cheaply.

Visual Analytics for Trial Preparation

Visual analytics ameliorates the review of documents, ensuring important documents prove informative for the review as well as the uber-important trial prep process. Visual analytics makes it easier for attorneys to understand how facts join together in specific contexts, ultimately helping them prepare for documents that hurt their argument. The same approach is effective for inbound documents transmitted by opposing counsel.

In a nutshell, visual analytics allows for a rapid understanding of the information in another group of data and how it affects the overarching case. Datasets are mined for information pertaining to the attorney’s client. This is a prudent approach as studies have shown important information was not retrieved through regular search terms yet discovered with the use of visual tools. Such information gleaned by researchers through visualization technology makes attorneys’ work that much easier.

Responses to Regulatory Inquiries

If a regulatory investigation is already underway, analytics will facilitate it. As an example, when you are notified a regulator is launching an investigation, your legal team should opt for visual analytics to group similar documents to one another so any potential topic that might be of note can be analyzed without delay. Such knowledge is essential for attorneys to develop a legal strategy and avoid regulators’ fines and other penalties.

Furthermore, deadlines are essential to all regulatory inquiries. It might prove impossible or egregiously costly to perform comprehensive linear reviews. Opt for visual analytics and you will be able to pinpoint important information in a timely manner, satisfy regulators and get this matter over and done with as soon as possible.