How GenAI Is Transforming Legal Workflows and Document Review

For decades, legal professionals have hesitated to adopt new technologies, from reluctantly shifting to online legal research tools and, more recently, to technology-assisted review. Relativity’s Celia O’Brien reported that generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is emerging as the next indispensable asset, revolutionizing how legal professionals handle legal workflows and document review.

GenAI is not just a futuristic concept but a practical solution that is already transforming legal workflows. It is proving to be more effective than traditional manual processes by automating repetitive tasks, offering cost savings, and enhancing the speed and precision of document review. AI-powered tools are also streamlining eDiscovery and other use cases, making legal work more efficient and intuitive. Natural language processing has allowed even those less familiar with technology to interact seamlessly with AI. 

Moreover, legal teams accustomed to TAR are now embracing GenAI’s ability to deliver faster and more accurate results for document review. GenAI enhances efficiency by highlighting key case details, providing explanations, and improving decision-making. For legal professionals using GenAI in the coming year, document review will be number one on their task list.

The benefits of GenAI in legal work are compelling. A recent IDC study commissioned by Relativity, “Generative AI in Legal 2024,” found that automation of routine tasks and cost savings are the top reasons for GenAI adoption in the legal industry. GenAI’s ability to process vast amounts of data makes it an invaluable tool for automating governance, risk prevention, compliance, and contract and legal analysis.  

Beyond efficiency, GenAI enables legal professionals to shift their focus from repetitive tasks to more strategic work. Using GenAI for legal workflows and document review will not only lead to more meaningful workloads but also improve overall job satisfaction.