By now, most of us know that generative AI is more than just a buzzword, it’s a technology that is already a very real part of people’s everyday lives. From asking generative AI tools to draft an email, to leveraging them in first-pass review, chances are you’ve at least experimented with it in some capacity — and many in the legal profession are adopting these tools at a remarkable rate.

As Everlaw Founder and CEO AJ Shankar highlighted during his keynote address at Everlaw Summit '24, this technology presents tremendous opportunities for legal organizations to uncover insights and get to the truth faster.

We believe we’re at a special moment for the legal profession, and are excited to see how generative AI helps advance the practice.

In AJ’s Summit-opening keynote, he detailed how generative AI is changing litigation and the profound impact it will have on the legal industry. However, despite the change it will bring, it isn’t going to replace practitioners.

“There won’t be one killer feature that will do everything,” AJ said of generative AI’s future in the profession. “Rather, it will be integrated into workflows. Organizations that leverage generative AI will experience a massive competitive advantage, finding better needles in the haystack faster, and enabling case leads to tell more powerful stories, leading to better outcomes for your clients.”

This idea of using generative AI as a tool to help improve the quality of legal work pervaded all of Summit, and grounded the conversation around it.

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watch aj's full keynote presentation from everlaw summit above

Generative AI in Action

Two Everlaw customers highlighted the ways generative AI is already making a difference in their work, live on the Summit mainstage.

Coding Suggestions in Complex IP Litigation

Cal Yeaman, a project attorney at Orrick, joined AJ to speak about his use of the Coding Suggestions feature of Everlaw's GenAI tool, Everlaw^AI Assistant in the document review process.

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Yeaman used Everlaw's Predictive Coding in conjunction with Coding Suggestions during the review of over 10,000 documents, with the idea being that Coding Suggestions would, at a minimum, speed up a traditional TAR review process, and optimally that the predictive coding would provide validation for a generative AI review.

The outcome proved that generative AI was just as good, if not better, than a human reviewer. Coding Suggestions was consistent across the entire document set, and only one document was missed that an attorney later deemed relevant.

Storybuilder and Writing Assistant

Jen Jackson, a Senior Analyst at Baker Dolinko & Schwartz, took the stage next to detail her use of Storybuilder and the Writing Assistant feature of Everlaw^AI Assistant to aid attorneys on a pair of matters.

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The first was with a case that had been on pause for over a year. The attorneys needed to get up to speed quickly on the matter, and the briefs filed by both Jackson’s firm and opposing counsel came with over 150 cases of cited case law. A partner asked her to create a study guide of sorts that detailed how well each of the cases bolstered each side's arguments.

Jackson opened up Storybuilder and created two drafts – one for their side, and one for the opposing side, and uploaded the cases as story documents, in addition to the two sides' briefs. She then queried Writing Assistant to identify the strongest and weakest cases for both sides, and within seconds it was writing the memo.

On another matter, opposing counsel sent 10 different sets of RFPs and special interrogatories, with over 120 pages of document requests. Jackson uploaded them to Storybuilder, asked for a summary of the key requests from each document, and within minutes had two pages of output she could give the attorneys, allowing them to instantly focus on the largest issues at hand. It was a crucial time saver for the case and helped them get ahead of opposing counsel almost instantly.

Leading with Responsibility

While generative AI has firmly established itself as the future of legal technology, it’s imperative that legal professionals educate themselves on its potential and impacts, and use it responsibly. Ultimately, it’s about deciding what’s best for you, and making decisions based on that.

“Everlaw is your partner,” AJ said to close out his presentation. “Our job is to provide you cutting edge technology, and our best practices for how to use it. But we’ll never shill it, either. We want you to go in eyes wide open, with our support, and find the tools and workflows that work best for you.”

If you’re interested in learning more about generative AI, or want to see how Everlaw^AI Assistant can improve your workflows, request a demo today.

Justin Smith is a Content Marketing Manager at Everlaw. He’s written on everything from financial markets to the product warranty industry for several different companies.