Image: Shane Deleers
The information from LegalTech New York will not grow stale as legal technology continues to move ahead to LegalTech West Coast 2013 at the Westin Bonaventure in Los Angeles from May 21 to 22. With only 88 days left before the next show, I am going to be hard-pressed in this new column, "LegalTech Trek," to transmit all the news and information I received in New York last January.
As I wrote in my first look at "What's New From LegalTech New York," the word predictive is hot and conjures up predictive coding in e-discovery and predictive analytics in big data sets. Among the LTNY vendors offering predictive tools outside of the realm of discovery was attorney-mediator Don Philbin, who explained his new web service Picture It Settled," which examines the behavior of negotiators in thousands of cases to predict what an opponent will do.
Philbin was quick to point out that Picture It Settled does not replace lawyers. Rather, the service is a resource designed to give lawyers a leg up in the negotation process. Picture It Settled uses computer and network services to examine the behavior of negotiators in thousands of cases to predict what an opponent will do. Case information and negotiation details are provided to the web service by the attorneys who conducted negotiations. In effect, the site gives attorneys a database of settlements that may answer questions such as "What will my opponent do in this case?" and "What is the bargain basement price to start and end this negotiation."
When asked about how Picture It Settled ingests new mediation and negotiation information, Philbin generally agreed with the principle "garbage in, garbage out" and said that input is carefully reviewed for accuracy before it is incorporated into the collection for analysis and prediction. Since LegalTech, Picture It Settled LLC has released a case study written by Will Pryor, a mediator, arbitrator, and adjunct professor of law at Southern Methodist University. Picture It Settled predicted Pryor's outcome in an intellectual property case within 3.5 percent of the final accord, which was achieved in only two rounds of negotiation.
The Picture It Settled service uses "neural networks, probability theory and behavioral patterns" to show what an opponent will do. The user interface accommodates numerous data points for cases, including jurisdiction, type of claim (from animal attack to contract to workers' compensation), along with details of plaintiff and defendant such as type (individual, government, small business, corporation, hospital, insurance) and their estimated net worth. The interface includes negotiation scenarios for plaintiff and defendant in high and low dollar amounts and you can add your own scenarios, e.g., punitive, actual, and special damages and whether or not to calculate transaction costs and attorney fees. See Figure 1.
Figure 1 shows the Picture It Settled user interface that accommodates facts specific to the negotiation in the left, tabbed window pane. The service analyzes the input data and then projects the settlement from historical settlement information into the picture on the right. The shaded area represents the possible settlement scope with the lines indicating the projected settlement and the current offers working towards a definitive agreement. Click image to enlarge.
While Picture It Settled aims to answer "How much should I offer to settle this matter?" and "When should I make the offer?" with predictive analytics, Houston-based Datacert has been using predictive analytics to work on some other questions: "How much is this case likely to cost?" and "Have we selected the right outside counsel?".
Datacert Inc. came to LegalTech after releasing its Passport BI Solutions last October. The BI Solutions Suite is designed to analyze and report on data to manage legal, risk, and compliance activities. The suite is built on Datacert's Passport system and includes decision tree analysis, predictive analytics, and data mining and consolidation. The first two offerings are:
• Passport Litigation Decision Analysis and Optimization that mines historical data and combines it with predictive analytics to guide in-house counsel's case strategy to improve litigation outcomes.
• Passport Data Warehouse is a central repository of data from multiple sources that summarizes and "denormalizes" tables and optimizes data relationships that support multidimensional data views (online analytical processiong or OLAP).
The Litigation Decision Analysis and Optimization module was developed in consultation with attorney Marc B. Victor, president of Litigation Risk Analysis Inc. LRA makes decision tree analysis software, called TreeAge Pro, designed to assist legal professionals determine settlement values and trial strategies using software with pull-down menus and full-screen graphics that builds decision trees with multiple variables or formulas indicating the probabilities of success or failure.
Datacert also has integrated LRA technology into its Passport Legal Matter and Spend Management software, which is designed to form a database of completed decision trees for similar matters that can be used to predict the probability of success and trial strategies in similar new matters.
LOAD FILE TRIALS
Richmond, Va.-based Compiled Services LLC, an e-discovery and litigation support software provider, was a first-time exhibitor at LegalTech this year. The company's ReadySuite software is designed to create, merge, review, and validate industry standard load files such as Concordance (.dat, .opt), IPRO (.lfp), Ringtail (.mdb), Summation (.csv, .dii), and Trial Director (.oll), as well as the Electronic Discovery Reference Model's XML load files.
A load file is comprised of ASCII text files with delimited fields of information about documents to be imported into a document or trial management system such as AccessData's Summation. Load files may also retain path information that links file metadata with the original files or messages. Load files can also incorporate searchable text derived from an original or native file.
ReadySuite can import image, native, text, and delimited text (.csv) files, as well as load files from the likes of AccessData Summation and IPRO. I loaded an EDRM XML load file from the Enron Data Set (Kenneth Lay), compiled by ZL Technologies Inc., to check out Compiled Services' interface and features to manipulate load files. See Figure 2.
Figure 2 shows ReadySuite's interface in a tabbed view of features to import and export load files as well as view, filter, and further process load files with, among other tools, redaction and optical character recognition software. The load file software is designed to hone, augment, and/or provide quality control on production data before it is turned over to an adversary or colleague. Click image to enlarge.
When I imported Kenneth Lays' email from the Enron case I checked if image, native, and text files existed with the XML load file and also checked for page counts, duplicate documents, blank pages, and assigned a unique hash to each message and attachment. I opted to detect blank pages and text in PDF files when I loaded the XML file. After loading the file, I could view text, email fields, and see a list view of all messages and fields. I imported a second batch of Enron messages from a second XML load file so I could QC both load files and export them to Summation format for co-counsel.
DOCUMENT AND PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
Glen Rock, N.J.-based World Software Corp. launched Worldox GX3 Cloud at LegalTech. The document management software provider's new software as a service has the functionality of Worldox GX3 Professional in a cloud-based DMS that can act as a stand-alone document store or augment an on-premise version of Worldox GX3.
The new Worldox GX3 Cloud does not require you to maintain server hardware or local indexes. It does, however, use an on-premise communications platform to connect the cloud servers' hosting documents with local applications so users can access their documents from interfaces like Windows Explorer and Office applications. But you are not limited to a browser when accessing the cloud DMS — the Worldox GX3 client software will access documents stored in the cloud DMS as well as an on-premise Worldox GX3 DMS. In addition, World Software continues to enhance its free iPad app.
Worldox GX3 Cloud is priced at $55 per month per user. The price includes data backup and redundancy for disaster planning, a built-in PDF editing suite, email integration, and automated matter number import. Prior to LegalTech, World Software unveiled a Category Meta Tag feature that lets users add personalized tags fields to documents to facilitate finding and organizing content.
Like World Software, Orion Law Management Systems recognizes the importance of mobility and released iOrion, an Apple Inc. iOS app at LegalTech. The new app is designed to manage your firm's business and practice from an iPad, iPad Mini, or iPhone.
The new iOrion app includes a mobile time-keeping application but also allows you to remotely access all your practice management data such as clients, contacts, and case information. When emails or phone calls are initiated, iOrion starts a timer and prompts you to bill your time when the tasks are complete. Timers started on Orion's desktop software can be completed on iOrion after you leave the office.
Attorney Sean Doherty is LTN's technology editor.
