Big Data is increasingly working its way into the fabric of standard law firm operations. With mounting pressure from corporate clients to curb costs and boost efficiency, more and more law firms are turning to analytics practices and data scientists to handle both data projects for clients and drive firm efficiency.

Andrew Cook, labor and employment firm Ogletree Deakins’ new director of data analytics, has a strong background in big data, but will be taking his first step into the law firm world. As a labor economist for FTI Consulting and later for Los Angeles-based The Claro Group, Cook designed and implemented statistical models to guide employment processes, and has spent time training attorneys how they too can use data practices to guide process development.