Legal analytics hints at a future where law firms can parse, slice and crunch the hundreds and thousands of bytes of available data into bite-sized insights that drive business, outcomes and more. But for the law firm's own data – a rich source of many of these insights – the issue of security will be on every decision-makers' mind. Namely: How can we keep our client data safe, comply with regulations and still gain value from an analytical approach?

“Big Data” is a term that's thrown around a lot among tech and analytical circles, but what does it really mean? While law firms have a huge amount of data available – internally, from clients and from outside databases and court records – not all of it is “Big Data.” That term refers specifically to data that comes from multiple sources at a rate of velocity, volume and variety much higher than what could be taken in by a human in a reasonable amount of time. It's also very complex data.