The Prelitigation Advantage: Leveraging AI for discovery and pleadings
Nicole Black.
Pretrial litigation is an area ripe for disruption, and artificial intelligence is coming for it. It makes sense. The discovery phase involves monotonous workflows and routine processes, making it an ideal target for tools that aim to streamline repetitive tasks and increase efficiency.
Some aspects of the pretrial process are more complex than others. But with the advent of generative AI, even higher-level work can be assisted with technology, as we discussed in last month’s column, where we focused on software that uses AI to assist litigators with brief drafting and analysis.
Because litigation challenges aren’t limited to working with legal briefs, it’s not surprising that AI tools have been developed that address other drafting pain points in the litigation process. During the pretrial phase, the drafting and analysis of pleadings and discovery documents can be time-consuming and tedious.
Enter AI software designed to streamline and expedite this process.
Using this software, you’re able to reduce the time spent reviewing and drafting routine pleadings, discovery requests and discovery responses, allowing you to focus more on client relationship management and making impactful strategic decisions. Since the widescale rollout of generative AI tools last year, AI-enabled tools designed to streamline pretrial discovery have been introduced. We’ll review some of those offerings below, but first, let’s cover issues you should think about when choosing these products for your law firm.
Choosing AI tools for pretrial discovery management
First and foremost, it’s necessary to fully understand your firm’s needs before researching your software options. Identify workflow challenges in your firm and determine which tasks slow your team down the most. Which tasks are performed repeatedly? Which are the most monotonous? Where do the most errors occur in the process?
Next, consider whether the software your firm is already using could solve any of the problems. Are there any plans to incorporate AI or generative AI features that will assist with the pretrial discovery process? What about planned integrations into the software your firm is already using? There’s no point in investing in new software if current tools may soon solve the problems your firm is encountering.
Additionally, ascertain whether the new AI tool you’re considering integrates with the software your firm already has in place. Integrations with tried-and-true systems your firm relies on are essential to ensure your firm’s workflows are not negatively impacted when adopting new software.
Once you’ve determined your law firm does need to invest in new software, it’s important to understand that you’ll most likely be entrusting your firm’s confidential client data to a third party since cloud-based tools are the most common option, especially when it comes to AI software. As a result, ethical rules require you to thoroughly vet the technology provider hosting and storing your law firm’s data. This duty includes obtaining information on how the data will be handled by that company, where the servers on which the data will be stored are located, who will have access to it, and how often and when it will be backed up, among other things.
Because the software discussed below includes AI features, you’ll also want to explore accuracy rates, how the company protects your data and whether your team’s data inputs are used to train AI models to improve responses.
With that in mind, let’s consider AI software that assists with the discovery process. Below, you’ll find a roundup of some of the main options available. Before settling on a tool, make sure to take advantage of any demos and opportunities to test-drive the software. All of the software listed utilizes AI, and if its marketing indicates it currently incorporates generative AI features, that will be noted. Pricing will be provided if available.
AI tools for discovery and pleadings
LegalMation uses generative AI to automate the creation of initial pleadings and discovery responses. By applying natural language processing, it interprets complaints and other legal documents, then generates corresponding pleadings, interrogatories, requests for admission and document requests. Pricing is not available on the website.
Ai.law offers a chatbot for litigation that includes the ability to automate document review and analysis during litigation, including the discovery phase. Using its AI chatbot, you can respond to a complaint or draft discovery demands. After uploading a document, it can assist in identifying key information and suggesting appropriate responses. There are no free trials available, and pricing starts at $49 per month when billed monthly.
Designed to assist with pretrial discovery, Briefpoint relies on AI to automate the preparation of discovery request and response documents, including requests for admission, requests for production and interrogatories. It integrates with some law practice management software products, allowing it to pull necessary information from those systems and format it into legal documents. Pricing begins at $55 per document.
Lexlink.ai utilizes AI algorithms to streamline the discovery process by automatically identifying, categorizing and extracting pertinent information from uploaded legal documents. It aids in drafting pleadings by generating a number of different discovery documents, including interrogatories and requests for admissions and production. Pricing is not available on the website.
If you’re part of a litigation team, the availability of AI tools that reduce the tedium of pretrial discovery tasks is undoubtedly a welcome reprieve from the repetitive, time-consuming discovery process. As generative AI features become commonplace, both stand-alone and in the tools your firm is already using, your bandwidth to focus on more substantive work will expand, enabling you to provide more effective representation and client service overall. These tools won’t replace you; instead, they will remove drudgery from your plate, enabling you to be the best lawyer possible for your clients.
Nicole Black is a Rochester, New York-based attorney, author and journalist, and she is senior director of subject matter expertise and external education 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.
