Where do we go from Here? Transformation and Acceleration of Legal Analytics in Practice

The advantages of evidence-based decision-making in the practice and theory of law should be obvious: Don’t make arguments to judges that seldom persuade; Jurisprudential analysis ought to align with sound social science; Attorneys should pitch legal work to clients that demonstrably need it. Despite the appearance of simplicity, there are practical and attitudinal barriers to finding and incorporating data into the practice of law. This article evaluates the current technologies and systems used to publish and analyze legal information from a researcher’s perspective. The authors also explore the technological, economic, political, and legal impediments that have prevented legal information systems from being able to keep pace with other industries and more open models. The authors detail tangible recommendations for necessary next steps toward making legal analytics more widely adopted by practitioners