Working with the Conflict Analytics Lab and harnessing the knowledge of Queen’s Law and Smith students, BLG will have new conflict resolution products for its clients.
Working with the Conflict Analytics Lab and harnessing the knowledge of Queen’s Law and Smith students, BLG will have new conflict resolution products for its clients.

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP has teamed up with Queen’s Law, Smith School of Business, and the Conflict Analytics Lab at Queen’s University to develop a tool to help the firm leverage artificial intelligence and drive strategic decision-making through data.

Since the fall of 2019, three students in the Smith Master of Management in Artificial Intelligence program – Nayef Abou Tayoun, Mamta Gupta, and Hu Jiachi – have been working on a project to create a visualized “playbook” for BLG which would inform decisions like BLG’s pricing strategies.

“When we were looking for an academic partner with expertise in analytics and artificial intelligence, Queen’s was an obvious choice,” says John Murphy, National Managing Partner and CEO. “Having a platform that helps us gain new insights into our billable hours, pro bono work, and other data across our national operations will help us enhance the client experience.”

“This partnership brings together solid academic training by Queen’s Law, analytics training by faculty experts from Smith School of Business, and the unparalleled access to the most relevant and recent subject matter related to analytics in legal practice from BLG,” adds Yuri Levin, Executive Director, Analytics and AI; and Director, Scotiabank Centre for Customer Analytics at Smith. 

As the initial playbook project nears its conclusion, BLG and Queen’s are looking to extend the partnership. One of the projects on the roadmap for the next year includes the creation of new conflict resolution products for BLG’s clients. 

Working alongside the Conflict Analytics Lab at Queen’s, and harnessing the knowledge of Queen’s Law and Smith students, these tools would help BLG’s clients resolve issues with customers at an early stage, helping BLG’s clients to speed up the resolution process, preserve their customers without damaging the relationship, and avoid lengthy and expensive court proceedings.

“Our lab’s focus is on applying data science to conflict resolution, and we’re thrilled to be bringing our expertise to this exciting new intersection of law and technology,” says Professor Samuel Dahan, Director of the Conflict Analytics Lab. “If we can help BLG’s clients prevent disputes or resolve them more efficiently, this could help businesses acquire and retain customers while reducing the burden on the legal system.”

By Phil Gaudreau