A new product, Map Engine, created by Ryan McClead’s Sente Advisors and Nicole Bradick’s Theory and Principle, allows lawyers to quickly visualise multi-jurisdictional data.
It’s another example of the growing interest in using visualisation tools in the legal sector. Initially this is focused on using a map of the US, but other areas are planned, including: Canada and Europe, and also a map based around US Federal District courts.
As the two legal tech consultancies explained: ‘Map Engine is a tool that allows users to easily upload a spreadsheet containing jurisdictional data and instantly generate a beautiful interactive map visualisation.
‘The user is provided both a link to a unique URL to share the map and a code snippet to embed the map in their websites, blog posts, or client portals. Maps can be secured with a passcode or made available publicly.’
Given how visually-based this all is the one-minute video below is useful.
For the user it’s a no-code experience that works as simply as creating an Excel spreadsheet with the key data for each jurisdiction. That data then gets fed into the system and creates the map, with the text data then also visible (see below steps 1 and 2). You can also add a colour-coded map legend.
Is this life-changing? Nope. But it is very useful. And, could you use other tools to do this? Yes – if you had the time to do so.
As Ryan McClead, the CEO of Sente Advisors, explained: ‘A number of our law firm clients were looking for an easy way to generate maps from the voluminous state survey data they were collecting. The options on the market were either too expensive, unnecessarily complex, or ill-suited to their particular use cases. We saw an opportunity to fill a real market need, so we turned to Theory and Principle to help bring Map Engine to life.’
One could see this being used for showing variations in state laws and regulations, or perhaps for showing where all the assets are in a M&A transaction, or to map out a commercial property portfolio.
It’s also a fairly rare example of two legal tech consultancies coming together to build a product for the wider legal market, as opposed to just building a bespoke tool for one client.
Nicole Bradick, CEO of Theory and Principle, concluded: ‘When Sente Advisors came to us with their idea, we set to building the simplest, most attractive map visualisation tool on the market.
‘Working with Sente and several prominent law firms, we took care to fully understand the firms’ needs and use cases. Our first version of this application is designed and built to instantly provide value to firms delivering all kinds of 50 State Survey data.’
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