From data to relationships: AI empowerment in legal practice  

On 6th of June, Karolina Šilingienė, the co-founder of Crespect participated at the Legal Geek Growth conference and shared some thoughts about AI empowerement in legal practice with SME (high-street and mid-market) law firms in UK. If you couldn‘t attend, continue reading as Karolina shares her talk below.

I read a piece of research from Dr Larry Richard, the leading expert on the psychology of lawyer behaviour, where he stated that managing lawyers is like herding cats.  I couldn’t agree more.  Have you ever considered the personality traits that make a lawyer a good lawyer? Let me share a few that Dr. Richard distinguished. Blog readers are welcome to check the source here>

1.  Skepticism – consistently ranks as the highest-scoring trait among lawyers, typically averaging around the 90th percentile.

2. Autonomy – in the study, top-notch lawyers scored roughly 20 points higher on this trait compared to the general public.

3. Sociability – lawyers also exhibit marked differences in the sociability trait compared to the general population. In the study, accomplished lawyers had an average sociability score of only 12%, starkly contrasting the general public’s 50% average.

Are you a sceptical, introverted, and autonomous high-achiever who doesn’t like being told what to do? Well, then, you must be a lawyer.   And while these traits make us remarkable lawyers, we struggle in some areas, like legal practice management and business growth.

In B2B professional services, business growth relies heavily on client-centricity. Law firm managers often state and preach about client-centric culture and collaboration for the sake of client happiness as much as possible.  Yet, frequently, this collaboration is only on the surface.  And it is rarely supported by a data-centric culture.

I worked at three of the biggest law firms in the Baltic states, and now I am a co-founder of Crespect, developing a legal practice management software with built-in CRM features. I speak with managing partners from European law firms daily. Unfortunately, I too often hear that firms operate in a confidential-first approach –  it’s expected that cases and documents are confidential by default, seeing others’ timecards impossible, learnings from debriefings are kept within the project team, and particular actions must be taken to make cases visible to others in the firm.  The “it’s my client.…” mindset is still entrenched within law firms, upholding the catchphrase of a stereotypical lawyer.

Some more forward-thinking law firms are trying to adopt the data-centric culture. Siloes are broken, data is being shared, a public-first approach is applied, and the virtual walls are demolished. It should encourage collaboration and allow leveraging of the firm’s collective knowledge.  Those good intentions rarely unlock business growth.  More often than not, law firms end up drowning in a sea of unhelpful and chaotic data. Why? Well, for starters, only a few law firms have a culture of storing client data, and even fewer do it in a structured manner. Don’t get me started about the non-billable data like CRM and business development notes (it’s an endangered species). Putting data in the system is time-consuming, and who in this industry has the time?  Plus, why even bother if it’s not rewarded?  And let’s face it, sometimes it is very boring and mundane, especially if tools are not user-friendly.

Clive Humby said in his famous quote that “data is the new oil” still in 2006. We lawyers are so autonomous and suspicious that it took us almost 20 years to start considering it. We either don’t appreciate the data and spread it across random spreadsheets that only seasoned colleagues know their hiding places, or we sit on the treasure trove and wait for it to reveal itself to us magically.

Mckinsey & Company estimates that law firms could create potential value from 180 to 260 bn USD by utilising AI (read more here). While most law firms are looking for ways to automate and simplify the creation of legal advice with the help of AI, law firms often neglect the treasure trove that they are sitting on. And yes, I mean this sea of endless transactional and relationship history that is or could be stored in the practice management system.

If AI can help structure lengthy memos, what if it could analyse your relationship history and provide you with the following best actions, speaking points for meetings, and suggestions on increasing client loyalty and upselling the provided services?  Imagine you could chat with your data. Imagine AI providing you with valuable tips on how to nurture client relationships. It’s not the future; it’s the reality.