Transforming Litigation: The Impact of AI on Document Review and Case Analysis
We considered the impact of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) on litigation strategy in our previous article and specifically how document review and case analysis has been transformed by the use of AI.
We consider what AI has brought to the document review and case analysis stage of litigation in a little more detail in this article.
Efficiency and Speed: AI has significantly improved the document review and analysis process in litigation in England and Wales by enhancing efficiency, reducing costs, and improving accuracy. One of the primary applications of AI in this context is predictive coding, a form of supervised machine learning. This technology allows a senior lawyer to train an algorithm by tagging documents as relevant or not, which the AI then applies to a larger dataset. Predictive coding can quickly identify relevant documents, reduce the volume of irrelevant material for manual review, and provide quality control for human reviewers. We referred to the case of Pyrrho Investments Ltd v MWB Property Ltd [2016] EWHC 256 Ch in our reference article whereby in handing down judgment the court observed that predictive coding offered greater consistency and was far less expensive than manual review.
Accuracy and Consistency: Linking to the above point, there is no question that when properly trained, AI systems can identify relevant information and patterns that might be missed by human reviewers. The use of AI systems inevitably improves the accuracy of the discovery process which in turn ensures there is less scope for nasty surprises as the litigation journey progresses. Utilising a properly trained AI system through the discovery process will lead to a greater consistency in document review which may be less so when a team of human reviewers are engaged for the first-pass of relevant documentation.
Context-Rich Searches: Newer AI tools, incorporating large language models (LLMs), enable context-rich searches and first-pass reviews without human intervention. With the correct training, such tools can understand the context of legal documents which results in a more thorough and precise review process. When you consider the vast amount of disclosure that many disputes now involve, to include social media messages, text messages and WhatsApp messages in addition to emails, agreements, letters and meeting minutes, the benefit in using these AI tools is obvious.
Cost-Effectiveness: By automating at least part of the review process, AI tools help legal teams manage large volumes of documents efficiently whilst also ensuring professionals are not all engaged in a time-consuming discovery process. Additionally, the tools will ensure a greater degree of accuracy in the discovery process as the possibility of human error is significantly reduced and a robust process of discovery can be documented and should stand up to the scrutiny of the courts. The overall cost of litigation by minimising the time spent by professionals on manual document review should therefore be reduced; it will not be eradicated as the results produced by the AI tools should be interrogated to ensure they are working in an accurate and compliant way.
Early-Stage Dispute Resolution: It is likely that AI-powered tools will assist in the provision of preliminary legal advice to claimants with a clearer view of the risk and arguments to be overcome or advanced in respect of their dispute, the provision of such advice at an early stage is inevitably going to assist in the resolution of disputes before it becomes necessary to commence formal proceedings.
Human Oversight: Despite all the obvious benefits AI brings to the discovery and analysis process there is a clear caveat that, as with all AI tools, there is still a requirement for human oversight to ensure that the output from using the tools is accurate and that risks, such as incorrect tagging or overlooking key documents, are mitigated.
Katie Byrne, Partner and Head of Commercial Dispute Resolution comments:
“With the sphere of document review and analysis, AI tools have the ability to come into their own.
“It is clear to see how the advancement in the application of an AI layer over existing platforms can transform the way documents are considered and reviewed in litigation. The production of a chronology, or list of relevant persons to be considered in relation to the dispute in question can be provided in a matter of minutes with the technology able to review vast numbers of documents at a speed no human would be capable of achieving.
Such applications and the advancements they bring to this area of law are exciting and transformative both for clients and law firms. There will be an expectation from clients that we embrace this technology for the benefits (including efficiency and cost) it can deliver whilst maintaining the requisite control necessary to ensure compliance and risk mitigation on their behalf.”
Dominic Tucker, Associate Director at iDiscovery Solutions comments:
“AI tools assist in the filtration and categorising of documents responsive to the issues in dispute. These tools can process vast amounts of data, including unstructured formats, and group messages chronologically or by themes. They can also provide an overview of the data volume to help parties refine their searches, making the disclosure process more manageable and cost-effective. Additionally, auto-redaction tools powered by AI can stage redactions for sensitive or privileged information, further streamlining the review process.
"They are effectuating two things for us: 1. They are allowing us to hack through the proverbial haystack which has grown with data; this lets us find the needles faster, and 2. AI tools using extractive and generative AI are also allowing users to consolidate and summarise points that may otherwise be lost in a sea of data and words. Make no mistake though: these tools are not solving problems or overcoming challenges –people are.
"iDS utilise several commercially available tools to achieve some of these goals, but the firm also develops custom, in-house tools to deal with things like poor quality images (OCR), translation of most languages and other solutions where AI has allowed for step-changes such as audio-to-text transcription.
"While AI has transformed document review in litigation, it is not without challenges. Risks include potential errors, bias in training data, and the need for human oversight to ensure the reliability of AI outputs. Nonetheless, the adoption of AI in this area continues to grow, driven by its ability to deliver substantial time and cost savings.”
Head of Commercial Dispute Resolution, Katie Byrne, will be joined alongside Steve Beahan, Head of Commercial LEI; Dominic Tucker, Associate Director at iDiscovery Solutions; Katie Armstrong, Client Development Director at Howden; and Iain McKenny, Founding Partner at Profile Investment.
Please register here if you would like to attend.
