NetDocuments recently announced the Judge Analytics App, an addition to 18 other apps in its ndMax Studio. The new App is designed to extract information in a firm’s files about particular judges.

I have often said particularly in Biglaw firms, there’s a lot of gold in them thar hills, aka past efforts of the firm. From forms, standard pleadings, and pure information, there’s a lot of valuable stuff. The problem has always been how to mine that gold. Finding it and getting to it takes time, time you might not be able to bill.

And I have written before about how vendors like NetDocuments have used automation and AI tools to take away the time element to mining the value out of these tools. Now, NetDocuments has taken this one step further with the introduction with the Judge Analytics App.

What It Does

So, what does Judge Analytics do? According to NetDocuments, it “transforms curated collections of judicial orders into a structured data set. It enables user to generate clear, on-demand profiles that reflect a judge’s procedural patterns, reasoning methods and tendencies across key motion types.”

That’s a mouthful. Let me put it in lawyer speak. It’s an AI tool that searches your firm’s database to extract information about judges your lawyers have appeared before, pulling out useful intelligence about a particular judge’s style, preferences, and how they may rule on motions.

An Example

Describing a tool like this and its benefits is one thing. Seeing it is another. Here is an example from the App about what the tool can do:

Why It May Be So Useful

If this tool can do this, wow. This would give you a leg up over those who aren’t using it and are walking into court blind.

I assume the tool could also provide information about the judge’s experience in certain matters. It was always a roll of the dice when I appeared before a judge with whom I had little familiarity as to whether he or she was knowledgeable about the type of matter my case might involve. The risk in that situation is that you either waste the judge’s time telling them what they already know, or you don’t tell them enough to understand the issues.

The App is designed to eliminate some of the guess work about judges. It also eliminates the time spent (and perhaps wasted if you don’t find anything) trying to find the information and/or taking the time to read all the information about and rulings of the judge. Even if billable, the amount of time required to do this kind of analysis would make the task too expensive to be practical.

The tool could be a particular benefit to younger lawyers. I remember walking into a courtroom and having no clue about the judge I was about to argue before and their disposition about certain matters. It’s a scary prospect, particularly when you’re young and inexperienced. As I have written before, it’s hard for younger lawyers to get courtroom experience these days. With this kind of tool, it might reduce some of the trepidation about letting a younger lawyer handle a hearing.

Not only would the tool provide you this information, perhaps more importantly, it could give your client the information so they could better assess exposure and better enable a cost-benefit analysis on whether a particular motion should be filed. More transparency. Better decision making.

But Will the Rich Just Get Richer?

Of course, being able to obtain an effective analysis depends on the data you have, and NetDocuments is working on tools to make that kind of collection better and more seamless. But quantity is important. If, in the prior example, your database only had one appearance before Judge Rodriguez, then the value and quality of the output will be reduced.

What this would seem to mean though is that firms with lots of data and who use NetDocuments will be better able to effectively use the tool and have a leg up over smaller firms without the data. If so, that would be unfortunate and is yet another example of the rich getting richer.

Dan Hauck, NetDocuments Chief Product Officer, nevertheless believes the tool will be useful to smaller firms that lack the data of their larger competitors: “While some firms might have more data than others, not every application requires significant data, we are finding that many smaller firms are using ndMAX to scale their practices far beyond what was possible without gen AI.”

Heath Harris, NetDocuments Sr. Director, recognizes that more data is better but feels the tool is still useful for smaller firms: “Of course, with analytics, the more data you have, the better, but that doesn’t mean you need vast collections to derive intelligence that is relevant to your practice.”

I’ve known the NetDocuments folks for years; my old law firm was an early customer. They are in the business to sell products, yes. But they are straight shooters.

The Value of Gold

Tools like this are beneficial for lots of reasons. Not the least of which, in today’s world, is the familiarity lawyers have with judges gained through years of trying cases before them; knowing them even socially is not what it once was. Quite simply, we try fewer cases than ever.

And lawyers are practicing more in multiple jurisdictions and are more transient today. So being able to assess the judge’s characteristics through your own firm’s experience is important. It ensures that all litigators have access to their partners’ experience with a judge. Presumably the information from your partners about a judge should be the information you trust the most.

If it works as advertised, it’s a “net” win.

Stephen Embry is a lawyer, speaker, blogger, and writer. He publishes TechLaw Crossroads, a blog devoted to the examination of the tension between technology, the law, and the practice of law.

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