US employment law specialist Littler Mendelson has launched a new platform to streamline counsel and provide clients with data-driven insights.
“Littler onDemand was developed as a direct response to market demand. Corporate legal departments often don’t have the bandwidth to address the many workplace issues that arise during the course of business and taking all questions to outside counsel can be cost prohibitive,” Scott Forman, founder of Littler onDemand, told Legal IT Insider. “Littler onDemand fills that gap and allows us to leverage our scale to act as an extension of our clients’ legal teams, providing them with cost savings and an opportunity to direct in-house resources toward higher level services.”
“At the same time, in-house legal teams are under increased pressure to operate more efficiently and are looking to their law firms to provide greater value in the delivery of legal services,” Forman added. Indeed, Littler’s 2019 employer survey, released this week, found that two thirds of general counsel and in-house lawyers expect their legal service providers to offer technology-driven tools and platforms amid increased pressure to improve operational efficiency.
Littler OnDemand allows clients to submit employment law questions through an online app and quickly receive answers, either based on previous responses or via Littler OnDemand Counsel – on-call lawyers specifically employed to address queries.
Through Littler onDemand’s data analytics capabilities, meanwhile, employers receive information that draws on their company’s past experiences, accounts for developments in the law and reflects experience across multiple organisations and industries. The app houses all of a company’s inquiries and provides insights into the most frequently recurring issues and problems, as well as the legal issues they present.
“Clients receive quick and comprehensive answers to workplace legal questions via Littler onDemand Counsel. They also get the full backing of Littler’s platform as attorneys with subject matter knowledge in particular areas of law or jurisdictions address more complex questions,” said Forman.
“The online platform also creates a knowledge bank of questions and responses. This not only provides consistency in how future matters are addressed, but also data-driven insights that show what issues are recurring over time so that training and other resources can be dedicated to those areas.”
Littler on Demand is the latest in a slew of tech innovations at the firm. Other advances include Littler CaseSmart, also founded by Forman. The Littler CaseSmart platform has managed over 23,500 matters since it was created in 2010.
By Amy Carroll