CLD challenges: Too much information is relative

German Law International Going Digital

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When STP announced the Knowliah acquisition earlier this year, it was an excellent opportunity to learn about their sector (plus, I am always keen to listen to founder stories).

As a starter, Knowliah helps Corporate Legal Departments (I’ll refer to these as “CLD” for brevity in the latter text) navigate and thrive in the age of digitalization of know­ledge and information. As a result, my conversation with its founder, Hans Van Heghe, revolves around CLD work and challenges in the contemporary business environment.

Some points may illuminate if you are a corporate counsel, or otherwise part of a CLD. Their forward-looking ­approach to managing and using information (the “JERI”) made a particular impression and is, in my humble view, paramount for contemporary CLD work.

Without further ado, below are the highlights of Hans’ and my discussion, laid out in the Question & Answer format.

 

The context is the glue

Ivan Rasic: Firstly, for the uninitiated, would you please introduce yourself, Knowliah, and your mission?

Hans Van Heghe: Certainly; to start with myself, I am an engineer, computer scientist, and mathematician. I have also been the President of the Engineers Association in Belgium and am deeply interested in psychology and ­human behavior. Due to those interests, I’ve been told that I am not a “typical” engineer.

For the last 25 years, my interests have shaped my work. Therefore, when I started Knowliah in 1999, I was mainly driven by the ambition to develop a novel platform and method of managing information. Please pardon a bit of industrial jargon; to put it briefly, I didn’t want to use relational databases or tree structures. Our vision ultimately brought us to a cognitive and context-driven object-­oriented information management method.

The main point and benefit of such a method is that it serves “Just Enough Right Information” (or “JERI”, as we dubbed it for brevity). The information from it is contextual and relevant to your present work and helps you swim (or even surf) through informational tides.

Once we were happy with the core of the method, we built ancillary functions around it: repositories, document management, document generation, search, and advanced case management (to name some). Any data points or documents in the system become a part of the context and enable users to reach their goals accordingly.

Think of context as the glue that ties it all together.

 

Ivan Rasic: You’ve mentioned your goal was to revolutionize how people find, think about, and reuse information. What does that mean, practically? What is wrong with the way we use information today?

Hans Van Heghe: As professionals, it is easy to be subject to tunnel vision, mainly when we focus intensely on a given task. CLDs are no exception here; the same goes for every sector. And due to tunnel vision, we sometimes get distorted notions of information and its value.

What’s the information worth to you?

 

Ivan Rasic: What do I mean by that?

Hans Van Heghe: Simply, the value of information is not in collecting but in reusing it. Similarly, the importance of knowledge ­management is in reusing said knowledge rather than sharing it. In other words, hundreds of people could share knowledge and information, but there is no value creation if nobody uses that knowledge. The whole point is then lost.

My utmost goal is to inspire and enable people within CLDs to reuse their available information, as that is one of the few ways to create value. Sharing is essential, and that is true. But without use, it is nothing but noise.

 

Ivan Rasic: Would you argue that information overload is one of the main challenges (generally speaking) that CLDs face nowadays? Or was that always a part of their job?

Hans Van Heghe: I quite like a quote by an English journalist: “The evil of nowadays is too much information.” What was the year when this writer stated that?

You’re spot on if you guessed Barnaby Rich, the 16th-century soldier and writer. Information increase has been a trend that transcends centuries; it is nothing new. And I don’t see it reversing any time soon, either.

There are many reasons for that. Generally, human know­ledge expands as our civilization advances. For example, I graduated in robotics and could follow and pinpoint any relevant information back then. Fast forward a few decades, and I cannot do the same anymore.

Another reason, however, is that we tend to cling to things. We hoard and rarely throw away. This phenomenon goes even more for digital goods, data, and information. In the context of CLDs, we need that information to stay compliant if a new regulation comes into effect. But we must keep the replaced regulation, at least during a transitional period. And what happens once that period ends? Do we always diligently clean up our machines and wipe irrelevant sources?

The answer is “no, not always,” and that factor also contributes to the exponential growth of digital media. It is easy to see why many feel overwhelmed. However, if we only observed the relevant information vital to your present work, it would grow much slower.

 

From “cost” to “luminaries”

Corporate lawyers and CLDs have the particular task of managing compliance risks. This means they are inherently afraid of missing any critical information. Their responsibilities practically encourage them to keep as much information as possible. This brings us to their primary challenge: Navigating through and finding “Just Enough Relevant Information”.

Again, the point is not collecting information; it is about presenting it in a consumable way and using it.

 

Ivan Rasic: In your view, how has the role and perspective of CLDs changed from the early 2000s to what is today?

Hans Van Heghe: Ten years ago, CLDs were regarded as just one of the “staff” departments. They were considered a cost. ­Today, though, they are one of the most important teams of a corporation.

Just consider the regulatory explosion over the last few years and all the liabilities of Boards and their directors. Compliance is more of a focal point than a decade ago, and top management have kept notes.

CLDs have gotten a new responsibility due to the whole trend. Namely, they must educate their organizations’ managers about compliance topics and initiate preventive projects where required.

 

AI – an enabler in evolving CLDs?

Ivan Rasic: You started applying AI within your solutions to CLDs’ challenges quite early?

Hans Van Heghe: I have considered AI to be a supportive technology for about 20 years. We then released our first AI, driven by natural language processing (NLP) and auto-classification. We have released a new version every two or three years, so AI is a core aspect of Knowliah.

 

Ivan Rasic: Some views of AI are pretty sensationalistic (e.g., “replacing legal professionals”). What’s your take there?

Hans Van Heghe: I feel that even in the Computer Science world, not many understand AI. And that is not meant as an insult; it is a complex topic, and it’s OK not to understand it ­entirely.

I also remember the CEO of a speech tech company where I worked in the ‘90s. He, too, claimed their tech would ­remove the need for personal assistants. Well, thirty years later, personal assistants are still quite an essential part of all industries, while their job has evolved. Likewise, repe­titive and low-value tasks of legal teams will disappear, but more valuable work will continue to come their way.

Yes, their jobs will change. They will need to adapt but will not disappear.

Just look at all the areas they are busy with (even without considering their educational role that I’ve mentioned previously). They are responsible for contract management, legal entity management, IP, and legal operations. As the cherry on top, there’s compliance. Compliance alone will make sure there’s always work in CLDs.