DL: Which seems like a perfect background for Lex Machina….

OB: Look at Moneyball, and the application of analytics to fields as diverse as sports, finance, and marketing. Everything has become analytics-driven. Why not law? That’s what Lex Machina is all about.

In 2010, Lex Machina — which started out as a public interest project at Stanford Law School, focused on quantitative analysis of patent litigation — spun out as a private company. In 2011, the board hired my friend Josh Becker as CEO.

Things went well, and the company grew. Today we have more than half of the Am Law 100 firms as subscribers, as well as lots of midsize firms and boutiques.