Clyde & Co launches in-house data lab as Slaughters signs up with Blackdot Solutions

In two notably business driven initiatives, Clyde & Co has launched an in-house data analytics lab in partnership with University College London as Magic Circle law firm Slaughter and May acquires software licenses of Blackdot Solutions intelligence and research platform, Videris.
The lab, which was launched off the back of work that Clyde & Co has been doing with UCL students over the past year or so, is intended to help Clyde & Co accelerate exploration of product development in 2018. It is an initiative led by partner Mark Wing (pictured top right) and the firm’s innovation board and Clyde’s global CIO Chris White told us: “We firmly believe these types of initiatives should be business driven not IT,” adding, “I am clearly very close to this initiative and IT are supporting it.”
The Lab will be staffed by Clyde’s legal, data science and strategy staff, and students from UCL’s world renowned computer science department.
The team will use data analysis supplemented with machine learning tools to explore workflow efficiencies as well as products and services for clients. Initial projects have focused on predicting fraudulent activity in relation to claims, the likelihood of disputes going to trial or to settlement, and potential litigation outcomes.
Wing said: “A large part of the value that law firms provide to their clients is the knowledge and expertise of their lawyers. As a global firm we have heaps of knowledge but the question we always challenge ourselves with is how we harness it as quickly and efficiently as we can for our clients.
“Because much of our knowledge is stored as data, having a data analytics lab provides us with another mechanism for unlocking insight, value and solutions for our clients. We think there is great potential in this project and we are delighted to be able to work with the leaders in their field at UCL. As the lab develops it is our aim to also involve clients in the work.”
You can hear White talking to Orange Rag editor Caroline Hill about the inception of the innovation board here: http://legaltechnology.com//latest-news/talking-tech-caroline-hill-talks-to-chris-white-of-clyde-co/ .
Meanwhile, Slaughter and May’s investment in Videris, which enables users to collect, analyse and visualise unstructured data available on the internet, follows Videris’ integration with kCura’s Relativity in April. The integration means that user can analyse internal data alongside social media data and corporate records to see the bigger picture during an investigation, meaning it has value across both transactional and disputes practices.
The investment was first posted on Blackdot’s website at the end of November. “Slaughter and May were the among the first in the legal sector to appreciate Blackdot’s approach as a business intelligence and due diligence resource” says David Wittman (pictured bottom left), practice partner at Slaughter and May. “We are delighted to have now become software customers of Videris, especially considering its ability to use publicly available online information and work with e-disclosure data.”
“Our software’s ability to support litigation, satisfy compliance requirements and work with e-disclosure data has now convinced Slaughter and May to take the technology in-house” says Adam de Courcy Ling, Chairman of the Board at Blackdot Solutions.