Of the many eDiscovery trends we’re seeing in the Legal Tech world, one stands out as particularly crucial. The eDiscovery services market is exploding. The market is estimated to grow 8.7% annually, reaching more than $17B by 2027.
The rapid growth of eDiscovery presents exciting opportunities for the Legal Tech world. However, for independent software vendors (ISVs) to capitalize on those opportunities, they must also stay vigilant about associated concerns such as the use of AI, data privacy, and effective document management.
Amidst the remarkable expansion of eDiscovery services, a host of trends have emerged that hold significant relevance for ISVs. Below, we outline key eDiscovery trends and offer tangible ways to navigate the landscape successfully.
Three eDiscovery Trends You Need to Know
#1: A Cautious Embrace of AI is Critical
One of the most prevalent eDiscovery trends is the need for cautious use of AI. It’s no secret that AI, or Legal AI, generative AI tools trained on legal processes, is revolutionizing eDiscovery. Law firms are already reaping the benefits, as 70% of large firms agree that generative AI adds value.
Legal AI makes teams more productive by automating rote tasks such as document review, memo drafting, and initial contract creation. For example, a recent study found that AI-powered due diligence document review can cut review time by up to 70% compared to traditional methods.
What does this data tell us? That lawyers will be turning to Legal Tech ISV professionals to help them better use, scale, and mitigate the risks of AI.
As the eDiscovery market grows, more sophisticated use cases for Legal AI will be developed. For instance, a Legal AI tool could generate textual content, such as policies or communications, based on input examples. Additionally, a tool could assign a tag to a given input and help professionals create a searchable database of documents to streamline due diligence.
In other words, the possibilities of Legal AI are endless. However, generative AI tools, especially when used in highly regulated fields, must be implemented with caution. That’s where ISVs can bring unique value.
Risks of Legal AI that ISVs can Help Mitigate
- Tools that are available publicly have been trained on vast amounts of historical data, which could result in outputs that are outdated, biased, or irrelevant to your clients’ needs.
- The misuse of AI is common within and outside of organizations, which could result in “deep fake” images and videos, along with generated data that are hard to verify.
- Inputs that include personally identifiable information (PII) can be accidentally exposed to other users of the tool. That’s where Accusoft’s PII detection and redaction feature in PrizmDoc can be helpful.
These are just a few risks that accompany all of the benefits Legal AI tools offer. It’s critical to spend plenty of time experimenting with various tools to see which ones pose the least amount of risk and work best for your application. Part of a cautious embrace of AI also includes forming a team to research, test, and launch tools safely. That’s why 38% of American Law 200 firms are expected to hire more technologists to support generative AI initiatives.
Action Items: How to embrace eDiscovery AI tools cautiously in your application
- Offer AI readiness assessments or audits to help law firm clients evaluate their current readiness, infrastructure, and data readiness for AI implementation.
- Facilitate knowledge-sharing among your clients by organizing learning sessions. Given that 90% of law firms reported that they expect their investment in generative AI to rise in the next five years, it’s clear that legal teams are using AI successfully. Consider arranging sessions where firms that have successfully implemented AI can share best practices with less experienced organizations.
- Explore partnering with a trusted eDiscovery document processing vendor such as Accusoft to integrate carefully vetted AI tools into your application.
#2 Data Privacy Restrictions Must be Top of Mind
Any list of 2024 eDiscovery trends must include a concern about data privacy. This year and beyond, restrictions on data privacy and protecting PII will become more rigid. Awareness of protecting client data has grown globally. Additionally, excitement about AI can inadvertently overshadow the data privacy concerns that come with using tools that are publicly available.
Increased data privacy restrictions within firms will look like stricter data retention policies and increased use of software designed to help teams identify and redact PII. Firms will need to conduct thorough research on the data privacy policies of their partners, as well as the data privacy laws of the geographic areas in which they conduct business.
Action items: How to keep data privacy top of mind in your application:
- Strengthen your software’s data security by implementing robust encryption protocols and security measures. Provide options for end-to-end encryption, secure file sharing, and secure document storage to safeguard PII and maintain client confidentiality.
- Provide tools for compliance auditing, monitoring, and reporting to assist legal teams in demonstrating regulatory compliance to clients and regulatory authorities. Features such as access logs, audit trails, and user activity monitoring ensure accountability and transparency in data handling practices.
- Ensure continuous improvement and responsiveness within your applications to evolving client needs and how PII could be exposed or inadvertently changed. Establish regular feedback loops with clients to gather insights, identify pain points, and prioritize feature enhancements.
- Review your organization’s data privacy policy. How does your software protect client data, PII, and more? Keep your clients updated on your policy so that they know data privacy is a top priority for you.
#3 Better Management of Collaborative Platforms is Needed
Another one of the most important eDiscovery trends of 2024 is the need for better management of collaborative platforms. The adoption of collaborative platforms, such as Slack, WhatsApp, MS Teams, and others, has surged due to the shift to remote work.
The use of collaborative applications offers advantages and poses challenges. For example, they enable legal teams to capture valuable information from communications across many platforms that strengthen court cases. However, they also create extremely large volumes of legal documents and the potential of large amounts of duplicate content that teams then have to review.
Why is the concern about collaborative platforms so great? Because the number and use of these platforms is only growing. From now until 2032, the collaboration software market is projected to grow 12% annually.
This has had profound effects on legal firms performing eDiscovery, most of whom still depend on tools and review processes designed for standard digital documents (such as .doc, .xlxs, .ppt, etc), paper documents, and email. The process of collecting, viewing, searching, redacting, and collaborating across traditional documents and emails has pivoted, and firms are responsible for including the digitized content from these collaborative working social platforms in their eDiscovery.
Action items: How to help law firms better access to files created in document collaboration tools
- Embed advanced search and filtering capabilities into your Legal Tech software that are specifically tailored to collaborative platform communications. This includes the ability to search for keywords, filter by date range or user, and apply metadata tags to organize and categorize communications effectively. These features enable lawyers to quickly locate relevant information during eDiscovery proceedings.
- Create tools in your application that supports the collecting, viewing, searching, redacting, and collaborating across traditional documents and emails, and also the digitized content from these collaborative working social platforms.
- Consider integrating PrizmDoc into your solution to seamlessly search, identify, and redact information directly within your application, ensuring top-notch document security.
Solutions Built to Help You Capitalize on eDiscovery Trends
We’ve only begun to see how the explosion of the eDiscovery services market poses opportunities and potential downfalls to the Legal Tech world. With the right safeguards in place, ISVs can capitalize on these opportunities to enhance their services, maintain competitiveness, and above all, foster client trust.
Wondering how can Accusoft support your team in keeping up with the eDiscovery trends of 2024? Read our Legal Tech Fact Sheet.
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