Analytics are all around you. Next time you go to the grocery store, try thinking about all the different data points being collected—the total stock of product on the shelves, the varieties of bread people pick up, how many items are bought in relation to their shelf location, and so much more.

The business world has been using analytics for years, and the rate of adoption has been something similar to a steep roller coaster incline. The legal industry has adopted analytics as well, though its rise is perhaps more similar to a slightly sloped walkway.

“There's more and more data. It's more complex. Those problems of acquiring it and looking into it are harder and harder,” Thomas Barnett, special counsel, e-discovery and data science at Paul Hastings, told a Legalweek West crowd. “The challenge is, other than maybe everyone in this room, lawyers aren't eager to learn this stuff. So how do we take advantage of this with lawyers who maybe went to law school because they didn't want to learn math or science?”