Take-away #2 : The applications of artificial intelligence to legal industry tasks is robust in three areas where the relevant data is publicly available. In Part I of this series I wrote that the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to predict outcomes in civil litigation isn’t happening any time soon…
Application of artificial intelligence (AI) to business law is the subject of much hope and some hype among legal tech promoters, a handful of forward-thinking law professors, alternative legal services providers — and their avid followers in the legal media. Which brings me to the other (much larger) group —…
Lawyers are indispensable for legal analysis. In fact, they’re so indispensable in situations that call for legal analysis that it’s dumb not to defer to them when a business decision depends on getting the law right. … Consider: While in corporate practice in early 1987, I was asked to advise…
While wrapping up Part I of this two-part series I learned through a friend about a sizable family business here in Chicago that has consistently sent its legal work to one of the most prestigious law firms in town — very capable lawyers — with whom I’ve worked directly. For…
Seth Godin’s blog post today — “The other kind of customer service” — offers an outlook pretty much foreign to the legal industry: “Reactive customer service waits until something is broken … “Perhaps we ought to spend more time being proactive. ” … Guiding the process so that most disappointments…
The attorney’s definition of “productivity”? How many hours did I bill the client and get paid for? It’s that simplistic. And it’s that one-sided — in favor of the lawyer — and against the client. Consequently — according to conventional law firm metrics — the lawyer who bills and gets…
As a lawyer who became a general manager when a corporate client invited me to run one of its divisions, I learned that each corporate function — each individual — had to be accountable to someone else in the organization. Everyone. Almost everyone. Everyone except the law and regulatory compliance…
A new app from Silicon Valley highlights a legal industry that resists innovation to the point of self-parody. Zero, a 2015 start-up headquartered in Los Gatos, California, now enlists artificial intelligence in the retrograde practice of lawyers billing by the hour: “ … Today, lawyers work everywhere and anywhere, on…
In the early 1980’s Fred Bartlit headed litigation at one of Chicago’s premier law firms. He’d brought in a client whose big case was keeping 8 partners and 30 associates busy for months. Classic leverage (see “Leverage” Part I). “My partners loved me”, he said. But — as he recounted…
A friend of mine – new to his job as chief financial officer – received a bill from a law firm for advice in an obscure area of federal income tax law. The law firm was nationally prominent – one of the 100 highest profit-per-partner practices in the country. My…