Artificial intelligence and other data-centric technologies have made a splash in the legal industry. Yet a surprising number of law firms and corporate legal departments don’t have data experts—and have no plans on hiring any, according to Bloomberg Law’s 2024 Legal Operations and Technology survey.
Forty-one percent of the respondents said that they don’t have any data scientists, analysts, or other data-focused staff and that they don’t have any plans to hire any. In contrast, only 6% of the respondents said that their organization plans to hire data experts. An additional 26% of the respondents were unsure about whether their organization employed such individuals.
The survey results seem to reflect a lingering skepticism—as well as a lack of information—among lawyers and corporate executives of the importance of quantitative analysis and its role in their organization.
When asked why their organization didn’t hire data experts, almost 53% of the respondents said that there was no need for them, and almost 28% cited cost as the reason. Only 22% of the respondents said that they hadn’t hired data professionals because they already had sufficient internal expertise.
Law firms and legal offices without data-focused experts as part of their in-house staff will likely have to outsource these duties to external organizations at some point in the near future.
Ultimately, the absence of data professionals in law firms and legal departments may be an obstacle to innovation and growth. These professionals can help attorneys use, for example, litigation data for research related to case strategy, settlement decisions, and assessments of potential trial and appellate outcomes, saving time and money.
Bloomberg Law subscribers can find related content on our Litigation Intelligence Center and Surveys, Reports & Data Analysis pages.
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