Historically, the legal profession has been slow to embrace emerging technologies. E-discovery software, however, was an exception, largely because Congress amended Rule 26(f) to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, which required its implementation. While e-discovery adoption was not always enthusiastic, it was notable, representing one of the first times legal professionals truly leaned into modern technology.
Initially, e-discovery software was cutting-edge, offering legal professionals the ability to sort through and categorize massive amounts of electronically stored information for production in litigation matters. Over the years, significant advancements in this category of software were few and far between. Systems transitioned from premises-based systems to the cloud—an important change—but truly innovative updates were rare.
In November 2022, generative artificial intelligence tools became widely available to the general public, which laid the foundation for the next stage of innovation in discovery software. Since then, more than 10 companies have integrated this technology into their products.
With generative AI features embedded in e-discovery tools, the identification, collection, preservation, processing, review and analysis of relevant electronic documents are simplified. The software can also assist with rapidly analyzing large volumes of data, identifying patterns and providing insights overlooked during manual review. Some platforms even include generative AI-driven advanced search capabilities, which enable more accurate keyword searches, tagging and redaction.
Choosing e-discovery software with generative AI features
If your law firm is interested in exploring how generative AI can improve the e-discovery process, first assess your firm’s specific needs and how these tools will integrate into your litigation workflow. What are the biggest challenges when managing electronically stored information? Which tasks consume the most time? How can generative AI streamline the process by automating document review, categorization or privilege identification?
Next, consider the tools that your firm is currently using. Do they include generative AI features, or is generative AI development on the product road map? Are there integrations available that would provide the functionality that you’re seeking? If your current providers are expanding their AI capabilities, it may be more efficient to adopt those updates, rather than implementing an entirely new platform.
Trusted providers should be the first place that you look before exploring new vendors. Leveraging existing tools with AI enhancements can minimize disruption, reduce onboarding time and ensure consistency in your firm’s workflows.
Vetting e-discovery providers
When your firm adopts cloud-based e-discovery tools, you are entrusting a third party with sensitive client data. Ethical obligations require you to vet the provider thoroughly, which includes reviewing data security measures, storage locations, access controls and backup policies to ensure compliance with professional responsibilities.
For AI-enhanced platforms, it’s also essential to understand the accuracy of AI-generated outputs, how the provider protects user data, and whether queries will contribute to training AI models.
Finally, whenever possible, take advantage of free trials or demos to test usability and determine whether a platform aligns with your firm’s needs.
With these considerations in mind, let’s explore AI-powered e-discovery tools.
E-discovery tools with generative AI features
• Reveal: Offers an AI-powered platform featuring “Ask,” a generative AI search tool that facilitates natural language queries and streamlines document review and analysis by providing verifiable insights and summaries.
• Relativity: Provides “Relativity aiR,” a suite of AI tools designed to enhance review to gauge the responsiveness of documents; case strategy to create case summaries and timelines; and privilege review, which accelerates the identification of privileged information.
• DISCO: “Cecilia” is its generative AI tool that translates and summarizes documents and depositions, enables interrogation of evidence or individual documents, generates timelines, and automates document review.
• Everlaw: Features the “EverlawAI Assistant,” which integrates with Everlaw’s Storybuilder and document review products. Using a Q&A format, it provides verifiable outputs that expedite document review and surface critical information to assist in crafting convincing arguments.
• Exterro: “Exterro Assist” is a generative AI tool embedded in the company’s e-discovery and legal governance solutions. With it, users can query the system using natural language to obtain contextually relevant results. It can also be used to automate workflows, summarize cases and documents, and create reports.
• Lexbe: Offers “CoPilot,” a generative AI-powered feature that summarizes documents, extracts key details and improves review efficiency. This tool enables legal teams to understand evidence and develop case strategies quickly.
• HaystackID: HaystackID’s “Core Intelligence AI” automates key e-discovery tasks, such as data classification, document summarization and the identification of sensitive information. It helps legal teams manage large volumes of data, speeds up review and streamlines the process of locating relevant and privileged documents.
• eDiscovery Assistant: For e-discovery practitioners, eDiscovery Assistant also integrates generative AI technology into its software. The functionality enables the generation of concise caselaw summaries, allowing legal professionals to assess the relevance and implications of judicial decisions swiftly.
Driving change
Having led the legal profession’s first major shift to digital workflows, e-discovery is once again driving change—this time through AI. With so many companies prioritizing generative AI development, e-discovery practitioners have more options than ever. As the technology improves, deeper integration will increase efficiency and introduce new capabilities.
Generative AI innovations are providing legal teams with an expanding set of tools to streamline document review, enhance predictive analysis, and uncover insights that might otherwise go unnoticed. As the technology evolves, deeper integration will further improve efficiency and introduce new capabilities, reinforcing e-discovery’s role as a key driver of legal innovation.
Nicole Black is a Rochester, New York-based attorney, author and journalist, and she is the principal legal insight strategist at MyCase, a company that offers legal practice management software for small firms. She is the nationally recognized author of Cloud Computing for Lawyers and is co-author of Social Media for Lawyers: The Next Frontier, both published by the American Bar Association. She writes regular columns for ABAJournal.com and Above the Law, has authored hundreds of articles for other publications, and regularly speaks at conferences regarding the intersection of law and emerging technologies. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @nikiblack, or she can be reached at [email protected].
This column reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily the views of the ABA Journal—or the American Bar Association.
