Litigation Risk Detection Using Twitter Data

Abstract

Construction projects are notorious for their frequent disputes and costly legal battles. This is particularly true for infrastructure projects, where technical and institutional complexity increases the risks and challenges of facing litigation. Early studies have been focused on subject matter experts’ ability to identify various risks and potential disputes. This paper presents a novel approach to estimate litigation risk using widely accessible social media data. By defining levels of legal risk and potential plaintiff’s profile, this paper presents a data-driven risk estimation model to track litigation risk in real time. The Purple Line transit project from the state of Maryland is used as an example to demonstrate the litigation risk estimation model with continuous retrieval of Twitter data for analysis. The implication and effectiveness will be discussed in this case study.