Message from the Committee
A few weeks ago I had dinner with a friend who’s a deal partner in a mid-size NY law firm. I was amazed that he hadn’t heard of “legal operations,” automated document review, Tech Week, or any of the concepts we’ve been talking about in this committee. Let’s call him ‘Bob.’ The Legal Analytics Committee is the place for Business Law Section members to learn, explore, and build the next generation of legal practice methods. It’s not just a conversation for those actively working with data and analytics or those really interested in learning. It’s not just for the math and economics nerds among us. It’s a conversation for the Bobs (and Bettys) in our law firms and ABA committees. The Business Law Section is a big organization and I had many conversations in Vancouver with attendees who were not aware of the new tools for performing legal work. You likely know some too. Help them out. Take some time in the next week to reach out to the Bobs and Bettys around you, and introduce them to the world of legal analytics.
If they can’t come to meetings, like the one in Vancouver, get them to join the Section and the Committee, and at least get them to follow the conversations on @BLSData, the committee Twitter feed, and our Linked-In group. Encourage them to join our monthly ‘Huddle,’ moderated by Bloomberg’s Diane Holt, on the first Tuesday of each month (next one is April 9 because of the Spring Meeting). It’s a start.
For those of you who didn’t make in to Vancouver, you missed some really great stuff. The theme was learning the basics of using data. Clio’s Joshua Lenon joined our Friday morning committee meeting and provided unique insights into how practice software can help law firms collect and operationalize data. Juliet Moringiello moderated the first program in our Legal Analytics Series, “Organizing Useful Practice Data – First Steps for Everyone.” Mary Juetten, author of “The Business of Legal: The Data-Driven Law Firm” joined myself and Anne McNulty in teaching basic concepts for collecting and using data. Thanks are due Emory Law student Christine Jiang for putting together the materials. I’ve added some materials to the Committee’s Connect library, and the program itself will eventually be available online.
Looking forward to your joining us at the next meeting in D.C.!
Warren Agin, Chair