Big Data and The Legal Process

The role of big data in the legal system may seem odd out of place, perhaps. However, even among law enforcement and in the courtroom, the use of data and the tools to manage it are changing the way processes are conducted.

With the ability of big data to show trends, predict outcomes, and shape the world around us, the use of big data in the legal world might be less surprising than it may at first seem. Through gathered data sets and the smart tools to analyze them, police, lawyers, juries, and average citizens are experiencing a shift in legal processes.

Here, we’ll look at big data’s place in criminal and civil justice, both in law enforcement and in litigation, then examine the concerns the increasing role of data analytics and smart technology are creating for everyone involved.

Big Data in Law Enforcement

Across the world, big data is being used to improve law enforcement. Through big data coupled with machine learning and predictive analytics, law enforcement can better respond to criminal activity and natural disasters.

For example, the Predictive Policing, or PredPol system, analyses crime reports to better help police officers direct their resources. The software provides police with information on criminal activity ranging across four different metrics, including auto theft and gang activity. The system is designed to ignore demographic factors, making the response strictly based on the criminal data in the area. This is intended to create better and less-biased policing, where a timely response can make all the difference.

Additionally, software like that provided by Cloud to Street can help emergency response officers in directing their resources during a natural disaster. Cloud to Street’s tech uses satellite imagery and machine learning to predict zones and houses likely to be affected by flooding. This gives responders a greater understanding of where to go in the event of a disaster, potentially saving lives and millions of dollars in damages.

Through the use of big data in law enforcement, the rate of response can be reduced in any event, with potential biases ideally removed for better policing. Then, when litigation needs to happen, big data is there again with the assist.

Big Data in Court

Before lawyers, juries, or judges even enter a courtroom, big data nowadays has likely already informed what will take place there. Since data analysis can help lawyers acquire cases, assess case facts, and reduce the chance of hung juries, big data is proving its usefulness to the legal system.

The process starts in legal marketing. Lawyers looking to take on cases make a pitch to an involved party. Within this pitch, they can leverage the information and analytics provided by big data to better give their potential clients an idea of the outcome and what they can do to ensure a positive one. Through an analysis of previous cases, verdicts, area statistics, and more, lawyers are more often using big data within the legal industry to acquire and better inform their work. This makes for strategies that are better informed and argued, increasing the likelihood of positive outcomes.

Similarly, big data analysis can help lawyers understand when a hung jury occurs and how to prevent such a thing from occurring in their own cases. Certain factors might tend to produce a hung jury that can be prevented through the explanation of likelihood obtained through data science.

Additionally, big data is changing how we litigate cases by offering a few system-altering benefits. These are:

• The ability to predict outcomes through past data
• Documentation and evidence analysis
• Social media scouring
• Clarity of processes

In the courtroom, all of these factors can play a significant role. If a lawyer knows through big data analysis the likelihood of a particular case losing at trial, they can push harder for a settlement. Alternatively, vast amounts of data from smart devices and social media can be scoured and analyzed to produce alibi, motive, or additional evidence. Finally, the clarity that can be gained from a mass analysis of business or HR practices could help in litigation against a corporation engaged in discriminatory policies, for example.

The Legal Concerns of Big Data and AI

Despite its increasingly widespread use in the legal world, concerns about big data and the artificial intelligence tools that power many analytical or machine learning processes come with their own legal and ethical concerns.

For example, machine learning in police work such as surveillance comes with privacy concerns. Is it ethical for police to use facial recognition software or mine for data? Is it constitutional? Similarly, predictive policing, despite its claims to the contrary, might maintain bias by following patterns based on crime data from discriminatory policing processes.

In the courtroom as well, where is the line drawn at big data’s role in a fair trial?

The legal implications of big data transcend the realm of police and lawyers, entering a workforce increasingly working from home due to the coronavirus pandemic. With big data and mobile devices such a huge part of daily work life, how do companies and individuals navigate the liability of personal devices on a remote network?

Big data and its role in the legal system make for a complex and challenging system of interacting elements, the outcomes of which we are just beginning to consider.

A Changing Legal Landscape

The answers to all these questions are up for debate as big data technology is increasingly utilized in the legal world. With law enforcement, lawyers, and citizens all making use of big data for legal problems, legislation will likely evolve in attempts to catch up to these rapidly innovating technologies.

In the meantime, big data has arrived to change the legal landscape, and whether you are a police officer, a lawyer, or a concerned citizen, you should be aware of the role of this data when it comes to criminal and civil justice.