With the current focus on artificial intelligence (AI) as one of the biggest trends in legal technology, it is not surprising that more companies are now touting the AI capabilities of their bill review solutions. However, building an AI solution is not a simple process. When done right, it results in best-in-class technology that delivers maximum value. When corners are cut, though, or AI is built on lesser data, the result is a solution that cannot maximize the legal department’s ROI.
With the market getting more cluttered, it is important for legal technology buyers to understand the factors that separate the best from the rest. The following are three areas of experience you should look for when evaluating providers of AI-driven legal bill review solutions to ensure your choice yields the best results.
Data science
Data science is a discipline that uses scientific methods, processes, machine learning algorithms and systems to extract knowledge and insights from data. Any legal tech partner you are considering for AI-assisted bill review must have an experienced data science team involved in developing and continuously improving their offerings.
They also need access to a large volume of detailed invoice data to benchmark against your internal data because your AI is only as good as the data that backs it. Data integrity, in addition to volume, should be a focus. If your AI model is running on incomplete, inconsistent or “dirty” data, then it won’t be positioned to yield high-quality results and may fall short of your expectations.
Legal operations
Just as important as the cost of a legal bill review provider’s service – if not more important – is the level of experience and expertise they have with legal operations. Vendors should be familiar with a variety of legal ops workflows and have expert-level knowledge of matter and spend management. It is critical that you work with a partner that knows your business and industry, understands your terminology for legal matters, and knows and adheres to best practices.
In order to evaluate their legal operations experience, ask a potential legal bill review provider the following questions:
- How many team members do they have with direct experience working in legal operations?
- Are there bill review team members who have experience as paralegals or attorneys?
- Do they have specialized training in using AI for the bill review process? How long have their team members used AI in this context?
- Can they demonstrate recognition of leadership by outside analysts and/or award programs?
Change management
Because bill review is a critical part of an organization’s legal operations, you should choose a partner with demonstrated experience in change management. Without that proficiency, a vendor is unlikely to provide you with the valuable guidance you need to make a significant process change without disrupting the department’s productivity, especially when that change involves the introduction of new technology such as AI.
An experienced legal operations partner will understand that people are key to the successful operational and cultural readiness that can make change successful. Look for a provider with deep domain expertise and the ability to assess your organization’s potential and help develop a roadmap to maximize and sustain value creation. They should work with you to develop a tailored approach that is aligned with your goals and helps you maintain your department’s performance while moving forward.
For a deeper dive into these differentiators of high-quality AI-driven legal bill review providers, along with more information about how AI can help with your bill review process, download our eBook Not all AI is the same – Understanding what Drives AI Leadership in Legal Bill Review.
Published March 4, 2022.