Define The Use Case, Find The Data, Train the AI (Take The Cannoli)
If you are going to change, know why, have data, and know the process

I n You’ve Got Mail (one of my wife’s favorite movies), Tom Hanks plays Joe Fox, the scion of the family that owns a Borders/Barnes & Noble-ish chain of bookstores. Meg Ryan plays the love interest and owner of a small, children’s book store “around the corner” from the newest Fox Books. The movie is a re-make of the classic Jimmy Stewart flick, The Shop Around The Corner.
At one point, Tom and Meg, who have an anonymous email relationship, are online chatting about Meg’s business problem: Fox Books (Meg doesn’t know she is emailing with Joe Fox) is putting Meg’s small bookstore out of business. Tom says its time to go to the mattresses, and Meg misses the reference. Tom explains it is from The Godfather trilogy and adds:
“The Godfather” is the I Ching. “The Godfather” is the sum of all wisdom. “The Godfather” is the answer to any question. What should I pack for my summer vacation? “Leave the gun, take the cannoli.” What day of the week is it? “Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Wednesday.”
When it comes to cannoli, it is hard to do better than Mike’s Pastry in Boston (picture above). If you go to Mike’s, take the cannoli.
Mike’s knows its customers. It knows what they value and so it has a pretty good idea of what it is doing when it adds a new cannoli filling. Sweet ricotta with chopped pistachio nuts works, but if you go to the concoction shown above, you better have a good reason. Mike’s needs a strong use case to add a filling. Messing with cannoli is a big deal and doing it wrong could alienate Mike’s core customers.
Searching For A Use Case
A few law firms are experimenting with AI. Say “AI” in a law firm press release and you will get media ink right away. But like any organization, a law firm should have a use case for AI. Yet, from what I see, most law firms using AI have flimsy to non-existent use cases.
Many firms replace use case definition with grafting. Those who know AI ask those who don’t know AI to define an AI use case. This is the doctor asking the patient to define a good treatment. I have been in some of these conversations and the ensuing discussion is surreal. The two groups fail to share a common language or a common vision.
The common endpoint is a use case that neither fits well with AI nor with the firm’s existing processes. It is a Rube Goldberg contraption (Rube Goldberg - a comically involved, complicated invention, laboriously contrived to perform a simple operation. — Webster's New World Dictionary).
There is a reason for this stumble. To understand where AI could fit into your firm, you must first understand what you do. Few law firms can pass this entrance exam. “We do deals” or “we counsel clients” are not winning answers. Understanding what the firm does — an existential crisis for many lawyers — provides a great starting point for the use case discussion.
Use Unique Data For Competitive Advantage
Now that you have a strong use case, you must find one or more data sources for the AI. This can be a stumbling point for use cases in law. Most lawyers look to the same sources for data: case law, publicly available documents, and time entries. Private data sets, such as due diligence documents or discovery documents, also work.
Now stop for a second and ask a basic question: will analyzing the same data everyone else analyzes provide your firm with a competitive advantage? Let’s go with the safe answer and say “no.” Now ask the obvious follow up question, “what data set will give your firm a competitive advantage?” The answer is obvious because it is part of what your firm has sold for decades: your clients and their matters give you a unique data set.
Consider the point I just made. Either you argue that what your firm does, how it handles matters for whom, yields unique and valuable client problem solutions, or you argue that what you do is the same as everyone else. If the latter, welcome to price wars. If the former, you have found a data set that is unique.
Imagine Amazon did not track your shopping behavior, just your purchasing behavior. It could not tell you what you had looked at, how long you lingered, where you went next, or anything else about your visit. It did not capture data until you bought something. Amazon would have a greatly impoverished data set.
Amazon tracks those behaviors because they give it value — a competitive advantage. Amazon knows you were tempted by that doodad, because you visited it 12 times and spent a total of 45 minutes on the page. You checked the reviews, looked at the specs, and tried several colors. You have a problem and you want to hire something to solve the problem. Amazon wants to be there for you.
Your firm generates a treasure trove of data each day, but no one is there to capture it. Each client interaction, every document, and all the work done along the way provide a rich source of “this is what we do and how we do it.” Your competitive advantage comes when you can apply that information to help the next client.
AI is, at its core, pattern recognition. The data gives the AI the place to look for those patterns. The best patterns are ones humans can’t see, but have a meaningful impact on behavior. If we see this pattern in the data, we can predict (within some boundaries) the likelihood that this path will lead to success. Looking at the same data set everyone else looks at will give you the same conclusions everyone else draws. No competitive advantage.
AI Should Not Be A Bolt On
You have a use case, you have data, now where does that AI sit in your processes? You want AI to sit directly on the path between client problem and your solution. If you and the client must take a big detour for AI, it becomes an annoyance. When you take that Ferrari out of the garage, you want to hit the open road, not drive down some pothole strewn street to wait 20 minutes for takeout.
As difficult as it may be to define a use case and find data, knowing processes has proven more difficult for lawyers. Random behavior does not lead to consistent competitive advantage. You must decide when, where, and how AI fits into your processes. Know where the open road is and how to get there before you get in the Ferrari.
Don’t Forget The Cannoli
AI will redefine every industry, law included. It will affect who your firm hires, what clients you attract, what matters you handle, and what results you get. It is a tool that, combined with the right people and processes, will give those who use it a competitive advantage. But it is a tool which, wielded without thought, can cause great pain.
Mike’s Pastry was founded in 1946. It has been around as long as many law firms. Go into the store on a Saturday morning and you better know the process — once you get to the counter, order to checkout takes about 30 seconds. They are careful at Mike’s. They must have a good use case before they mess with the cannoli, and they know the only data that sets them apart from competitors — what their customers want and buy.
Be like Mike’s. When reaching for AI, have a use case, find the right data, and understand your processes. And always, always, take the cannoli.
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About: Ken is a speaker and author on innovation, leadership, and on the future of people, process, and technology. On Medium, he is a “Top 50” author on innovation, leadership, and artificial intelligence. You can follow him on Twitter, connect with him on LinkedIn, and follow him on Facebook.

