CFOs Take Up Tech to Embrace Millennials’ Thirst for Data Visualization


Blog post originally shared on iridium-technology.com. Iridium Technology is now part of BigHand. Learn more here.

More and more, data visualization is becoming a key component of all industries – especially the legal industry. Data-driven business is booming and keeping up with the trend not only benefits your law firm, it also benefits your clients. As we continue into an age of transparency, clients and lawyers alike want access to specific data regarding their cases, billable hours, and financial success of the firm. Data visualization and storytelling can help to create this transparency, keeping your lawyers and clients happy.

Why You Need Better Data Visualization Tools

The days of splitting year-end revenue amongst all partners have all but ended. The many steps it now takes to get from Junior to Equity Partner create a culture of competition, where all lawyers are expected to bring in enough business to cover their salary, and that of those who work under them.

With that, it’s important for your lawyers to be able to access key financial data they need to ensure that they’re billing enough hours to continue progressing in their careers. Similarly, data visualization is important to the financial health of your law firm. Without storytelling and the visual data to back it up, it can be easy to lose track of inventory management, monthly client acquisition numbers, and other key KPIs in your firm. This can not only cost your firm millions of dollars in revenue each year, it can also cost you some of your best lawyers as they move to firms that provide the transparency they need to advance in their careers.

The Importance of Transparency in Your Data Visualization

Millennials are becoming increasingly dominant in the legal industry’s workforce. In just ten years, 75% of law firm staff will be Millennials. To recruit and retain the top Millennial talent, it’s important to consider what this generation looks for in an employer. As digital natives, Millennials are likely to seek out firms that provide access to advanced technology. In fact, a recent study found that more than 80% of Millennials consider workplace tech as a major influence when deciding to take a job. Using business intelligence solutions and other legal technologies in your law firm can help to attract and retain top Millennial talent.

Not only this, but these data visualization tools provide transparent, accessible data to all of your employees. Providing this can add unique gamification to the more mundane tasks your lawyers take on. Creating internal competition can promote consistent time tracking, better billing hygiene, and a more data-driven team as a whole. This not only benefits the lawyers in your firm, but also the clients you serve.

Iridium BI Can Help

If you want a better way to visualize data in your law firm, Iridium, now part of BigHand BI is the solution. Our four modules track the most important KPIs in your law firm, and provide transparent, easy-to-understand data to your lawyers. 

About BigHand Business Intelligence

BigHand’s Legal Business Intelligence is the most advanced BI solution for law firms. It’s flexible, autonomous and source agnostic data warehouse solution, replaces manual law firm finance reporting with a real-time digital overview of your financial data.

Specifically tailored for lawyers, finance and management teams, it strips the complexity away from the mountains of information you generate. The self-service tool gives users controlled access to the appropriate legal finance data which can be quickly and easily shown through any visualization tool of choice, including PowerBI.

BigHand BI