The blooming complexities of cybersecurity and privacy law require vigilance from practitioners operating in nearly every industry vertical. As illustrated by the invalidation of the Safe Harbor agreement in October, virtually overnight massive paradigm shifts can change how businesses must approach regulatory obligations, and they need strong resources to do so. On Nov. 19, international law firm, Akerman, announced that it is offering a new tool in the pursuit of that understanding, with the release of the Akerman Data Law Center.

Through partnerships with Thomson Reuters and Neota Logic, the product offers a constantly updated resource for professionals to edify themselves in the evolution of privacy and cybersecurity law. The web-based legal knowledge platform allows users to conduct global research on the rules and regulations most likely to impact their operations, utilizing a Neota-developed interface access and organizing relevant data. Users can quickly conduct research based on their region, operational footprint, industry and more.

“The need really came along because today cybersecurity and privacy is treated with a high level of concern from nearly every organization. It’s also something that’s likely to have accelerated growth in the law market for 2016. This is something that every law firm needs to be in front of, and we wanted to be ahead of the curve to be prepared to work collaboratively with our clients to serve their needs,” Akerman’s Data Law Practice co-chair, Martin Tully, told Legaltech news. “The challenges, of course, with data security and privacy, whether through notifications or other requirements, are that the law surrounding this is changing all the time so it can be difficult for an organization to stay on top of it especially if they’re operating in multiple jurisdictions in the U. S. or overseas. We saw a need there to have a constantly updated resource for our clients to get a handle on what their obligations are.”

Users gain access to the platform through a monthly subscription fee, and Akerman says that the utilization of the tool can reduce expenditure on research by up to 80 percent, when compared to the hourly rate models typically associated with this research.

“The traditional law firm model relies on the hourly rates of associates constantly updating this work, and can result in a static product that the client would still have to sit down and interpret to figure out what it means for them. We wanted to automate that process and bring the cost down in a way that was collaboratively designed with our clients,” Tully added.