While many law firms have become more innovative and technologically savvy over the pandemic years, it’s clear that some stand out from the pack. Law firms that employ data scientists—a minority in the market—are often far ahead of others in understanding fast-evolving technology and developing custom tech solutions.

But for such law firms, eliciting those innovations and capabilities isn’t as simple as providing their data scientists with a laundry list of items to get through. Many realize these experts need time and space to flourish, and by extension, create long-term value. Letting data scientists work on personal passion projects, which often means exploring new ideas and learning new skills and technologies, can be essential. Of course, all of this is done with an eye towards benefiting the firm. “They’re not developing rockets,” says Husch Blackwell’s CIO Blake Rooney. “They’re doing things that are adjacent to the work that we’re doing.”