“I used the Python programming coding to develop a software that creates and edits 12 types of documents related to a law firm by means of few inputs from a lawyer. “The software automatically fills proposals, contract minutes, requirements and Powers of Attorney from over 5.5 thousand clients and potential clients”, says João Pedro Cimatti, Insper’s Law School student. You haven’t misread it. The software was developed by a student who intends to be a lawyer.

 

This work’s purpose is to enhance the management of a law firm by applying knowledge acquired in the classroom. The software was created after research done by Cimatti on government websites to obtain data such as Company Number (CNPJ), business partners names and full address. In addition to those, student included other information available at the office, such as contract signature date. “Phyton coding is among the most used ones worldwide. Its advantage is to be friendly, or accessible, for non-programmers, such as law professionals. From the technical point of view, its versatility enables several solutions for the day-to-day business”, states Cimatti.

 

The software spared work from five office team members who can employ this time doing non-repetitive works, such as juridical documents’ revision and improvement. “The method adopted by many law firms to fill spreadsheets and other documents is archaic. By copying data manually, in addition to the time consumption that could be employed for more profitable purposes, the risk of mistyping increases”, states Cimatti.

 

Even though the students acquire programming knowledge, Data Science Applied to Law, attended by Cimatti, does not intend them to turn into programmer as explains Ivar Hartmann, Insper professor of such course.

 

“What we want is to provide students with the ability of identifying these opportunities at the offices, at lawtechs and on Judicial Power to make professionals’ work easier and to decrease costs, therefore, making them capable of applying technology when producing juridical knowledge and on doing trouble-shooting on juridical careers”, says the professor.

 

“In example, Computer Science student or professional does not have the same conditions of finding rooms to reduce inefficiency gaps in a law firm, but due to being immerse in this reality, Law students and professionals can identify possibilities of using technology to enhance productivity. Countless opportunities are lost as no one sees space for innovation.”

 

Bonding technology and law

 

The adoption of the juridical software by the law firms was pointed by a recent study from the legal platform Projuris. As Juridical Cense done by the company, 42% of the lawyers were using some juridical software in their departments in 2021. In addition, 11% already used a business intelligence (BI) solution to extract intel from reports and indicators.

 

This connection between technology and law occurs to make lawyer’s work more productive, as well as to regulate matters which arose not long ago such as Brazilian Civil Rights Framework for the Internet and artificial intelligence algorithms, by means of the AI Rights Framework, under discussion on Brazilian Congress. “In this context, data Science is Paramount for the law professional who needs to understand how this knowledge field works. Social media and general platforms would not exist without data science elements”, stats Hartmann.

 

Professor also highlights the relevance of having students learning about statistics, also part of law school undergraduate contents. “Such knowledge is important so the future law professional can understand the reality and make decisions based on data, on evidence and not by guesswork.”

 

Jurimetrics – statistics applied to Law – is included in this data science context. By means of it, it is possible to predict, in example, the decision from a certain jury or court as well as general payment amount established in a condemnation, based on analysis of the understanding adopted on previous processes. Using this information, Law professional defines whether if proceeding with a litigation or taking a deal based on evidence.