A typical law firm interacts with tons of data every day. But not all of them are concise enough to influence accurate decision-making. In fact, 80% of data that organizations deal with regularly is unstructured. Commission examples include social media chat history, emails, PDFs, user reviews, videos, images, and many more.

The trickiest part is that as the unstructured data keeps piling up exponentially, it becomes virtually impossible to extract value from them. Hence, there’s a need for your law firm to record and organize any information it comes across without wasting time or effort. But how?

This article takes a deeper dive into the types of unstructured data in a law firm, the challenges of handling such data, and the best technology solutions to help manage them. But first, what is unstructured data?

What is Unstructured Data?

Unstructured data is any information that lacks a pre-defined data model or isn’t organized in a pre-defined manner. Such info is usually text-heavy but may contain valuable data like numbers, dates, or facts. It may also comprise non-text content such as visuals or sound.

Typically, unstructured data remains unusable until further processing. And the sooner you begin refining your law firm’s unstructured data, the better because such data won’t stop piling up anytime soon. In 2020 alone, the amount of data circulating worldwide clocked 64.2 zettabytes (64.2 billion terabytes), and it’s expected to compound to 180 zettabytes by 2025 (Statista).

What are the Challenges of Handling Unstructured Data?

Unstructured data present a massive potential for growth in a law firm by providing value-adding insights. But many organizations fail to tap into these opportunities due to challenges that come with analyzing such data. Here’s a closer look at some obstacles:

Unstructured Data Keeps Expanding

As we’ve mentioned in the section above, unstructured data keeps expanding exponentially. And when the large data set grows, the harder it becomes to store and analyze in a timely and efficient manner. So, the only way of overcoming such an obstacle is by investing in an automated system that can process large amounts of data – more details below.

Not all Unstructured Data is High-Quality

Telling top-quality unstructured data from irrelevant ones is an absolute nightmare, primarily due to their large volumes and inconsistent patterns. For instance, not all Facebook status updates, images, or audiovisuals may be helpful to a law firm looking to enhance its digital marketing strategies.

Inability to Protect all Data at Risk

The chances are that your law firm’s backup window isn’t extensive enough to handle incremental data protection as and when new files emerge. This may force you to make a consequential decision of which data to protect and which one to leave. In the long run, this exposes your firm to the risk of data theft or compromise because cybercriminals are always on the lookout for new opportunities.

Unstructured Data Can’t be Analyzed with Conventional Systems

Conventional databases are only tailor-made and equipped to store and organize structured data. That’s because unstructured data come in various random formats that may not fit into the rigidity of traditional systems. Hence, there’s a need to upgrade to a more modern system capable of locating, extracting, organizing, and storing data.

The Best Technology Solutions to Manage Unstructured Data

There are several software technology solutions that your law firm can utilize to store, organize, and manage unstructured data. Here’s a review of the top five plus their key features and capabilities:

OneDrive

OneDrive is another excellent cloud-based file storage service under the Microsoft 365 suite. The storage solution comes with a built-in data classification feature that automates the regrouping of unstructured data for effortless storage and management. But that’s not all; OneDrive can also detect data that contains personally identifiable information (PII) or any other sensitive info.

OneDrive Key Features and Benefits

You can access all your files in OneDrive without using device storage

OneDrive supports team collaboration, and you can share files with any authorized individual

Intelligent discovery is a OneDrive feature that lets you discover the most relevant content

OneDrive supports real-time co-authoring

GetLegal Software

There’s a need to constantly track unstructured data sets and record the time they trickle in to extract maximum insights from them. But it’s virtually impossible to do it manually, as it’s tiring and time-consuming. That’s where GetLegal comes in handy; classic legal time management software that accurately tracks time down to the second. With this tool, you can rest assured that no unstructured data escapes your eyes, whether you’re in the office or traveling.

Getlegal Unique Features and Capabilities

You can access it from any device

It offers customizable and flexible time-tracking options

It doesn’t matter whether you’re on or offline

Every event gets backed up to the cloud and auto-saved across various devices

There You Go!

Unstructured data sets may keep expanding, be inconsistent, and physically tiring to organize. But one thing’s for sure; they can’t beat the efficiency of the best legal management systems. Just imagine how fast and convenient legal time management (that’s where GetLegal adds value), email sorting, client acquisition, market analysis, etc., can be with the automated management of unstructured data in your law firm!

Hopefully, one of the software solutions discussed above will be a game-changer in your legal work and help your team deal with unstructured data more efficiently. 

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