Early Data Assessment: Leveraging LDI for Dispute Avoidance & Strategic Response

Legal Data Intelligence (LDI) principles encourage practitioners to skillfully apply people, process, and technology to address intractable data challenges. In a new white paper, LDI Architects Kevin Clark, Matthew Hamilton, Melina Efstathiou, and Tristan Jenkinson, along with LDI founding member Kelly Friedman, encourage zooming out from the traditional, case-specific Early Case Assessment to the broader approach of Early Data Assessment. Early Data Assessment (EDA) is the systematic process of identifying, organizing, and analyzing data at the earliest stage—often before a formal matter has begun—using insights from historical data to help drive legal strategy.

In-house counsel can use EDA to assess risk based on how similar issues have unfolded within the business, leading to more accurate scoping of legal exposure, more informed strategic decisions, and faster go/no-go determinations on litigation and settlement pathways.

Outside counsel can apply EDA across data sets drawn from multiple clients within the same sector, revealing benchmarks and sector-level patterns that strengthen litigation strategy and help deliver better outcomes.

In the white paper Expanding From Early Case to Early Data Assessment: Leveraging Legal Data Intelligence for Dispute Avoidance and Strategic Response, the authors examine how legal professionals can apply Legal Data Intelligence principles to develop an EDA workflow that transforms raw legal data into actionable intelligence and enables strategic risk management from the earliest possible moment. The white paper outlines the framework, practical applications, and cross-jurisdictional considerations of EDA, with a focus on how legal professionals can use this approach to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and deliver strategic value.

Readers will gain sharp insights and actionable takeaways, along with clear, concise analysis from industry leaders on several key themes, including:

Why Expand From ECA to EDA?

In data-intensive environments, a shift toward proactive, data-driven decision making is essential. Borrowing from the valuable insights drawn from case-specific workflows within ECA, the expansion to EDA encompasses data mapping, alignment with information governance practices, and historical data analysis to model outcomes, costs, and risks. Its application extends beyond litigation to investigations, compliance audits, and dispute-avoidance efforts.

Applying EDA to Different Use Cases

The white paper highlights the benefits of EDA across a range of use cases. In litigation, EDA helps legal teams avoid unnecessary data overcollection, reduce review volumes, and optimize legal spend. In internal and regulatory investigations, EDA supports rapid and well-informed responses during compressed investigative timelines. Most importantly, EDA is a powerful tool for dispute avoidance. By analyzing trends across a portfolio of matters, organizations can identify recurring claims, systemic operational breakdowns, or business units that generate disproportionate legal exposure. EDA allows legal teams to move upstream, using data not only to respond to disputes, but to prevent them.