Analytics is all the rage in legal technology circles. It’s funny how a “killer app” can come along and quell a community rift. For years, the legal profession and the legal tech world tussled over whether or not “AI” or “Machine Learning” was hype or the next big thing. We joked about robot lawyers, mused about the unauthorized practice of law, had serious conversations about encoding bias, but in the end all it took to get lawyers to come on board with the promise of AI was providing the application nearest and dearest to a lawyer’s heart: research.
It’s been almost a year and a half since we first talked to LexisNexis about Context, its offering based on Ravel Law’s AI technology. Back then, what Context promised was a powerful tool to breakdown judges and expert witnesses, analyzing opinions to identify trends, quirks, and points that resonate. Context could flag, “hey, this judge cites this one quote from this one outlier of a case every single time this very specific argument has come up… maybe you should read that one.” It was an eye-opening demo.
Last week, LexisNexis unveiled a new module, Context Company Analytics, using “advanced machine learning technologies to cross-reference litigation history with news events, combining these insights with financial data and information on prominent executives for more than 2.5 million public and private companies.” Context’s engine correlates information coming from all sides of the LexisNexis marriage: news coming from the Nexis side — including Law360, business journals, and national newspapers — litigation data coming from dockets and caselaw courtesy of the Lexis side, and corporate financial information from Nexis Dossier.
It’s all intertwined, and Context allows the user to see it all at once. Here’s a look at Ford Motor Company:
See how the news stories are all tied to the underlying suits and you can easily jump from the media narrative to the litigation materials? I’ll say that a live demo conveys this even better.
I did note that the system managed to avoid gathering any stories about the most headline grabbing caption for the company last year: Ford v. Ferrari. All kidding aside, there was a day when a system trying to do this kind of thing would uncritically spit out the fact that hundreds of stories were written about what appears on paper to be a case. This is the power of AI.
“To fully understand potential risk and exposure, or anticipate potential market opportunities, law firms and corporate legal departments need to see how news events and litigation can impact the financial well-being of a company and its executives,” said Sean Fitzpatrick, CEO, North American Research Solutions at LexisNexis. “Only Context Company Analytics gives attorneys powerful language analytics to dive deep into news, litigation, and financial data to better serve their clients, prospects and key internal stakeholders.”
The benefits of understanding a litigation adversary or a counterparty in a deal are obvious, but the system also provides value for attorneys looking to expand their practices.
If I’m looking to get some Ford business, these are the firms in my way and these are the courts where I need to show expertise.
As of now, Context Company Analytics covers all public companies, all private and international companies that have had litigation in U.S. courts, and private companies larger than 100 employees even if they have no litigation history.
Context Company Analytics is available with a Lexis Advance subscription.
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.