Recent years have brought significant advances in the use of analytics to identify trends in legal data and mitigate risks. For instance, by conducting a retroactive analysis of their litigation data, legal departments can better understand key issues driving lawsuits, such as which policies, regulations and regional locations are most often implicated in litigation. Armed with these insights, in-house counsel can determine where to allocate resources to reduce the likelihood of future litigation.

This type of analysis is important, but as the legal risks facing companies grow and intensify, it's critical to leverage data to keep looking for earlier and earlier indicators of risk. With the wide-ranging business and reputational risks that come with employment-related litigation and the increased pressure to recruit and retain employees in a hyper-competitive talent market, human resources data provides a particular opportunity to spot emerging issues that may impact an organization's operations and future success.