Generative AI, GenAI, LLMs, AI overlords … whatever you want to call it, this technology is transforming how we work and quickly becoming essential for law firms.
But if you’re new to generative AI, where should you start? What should you consider before trying to get your team on board? Or writing your first AI prompt? Today, you’re in luck.
Four early generative AI adopters—Foley & Lardner, Troutman Pepper, Perkins Coie, and Quinn Emanuel—took the stage at Relativity Fest to share their experiences integrating this shiny new technology (specifically Relativity aiR) into their workflows.
From overcoming internal resistance to mastering the art of AI prompt creation, their stories can provide a head start for firms looking to kick off their own generative AI journeys.
From Troutman Pepper: Create an AI Culture to Boost Buy In
For Troutman Pepper eMerge, the decision to become part of the early access program for Relativity aiR was a no-brainer; early tech adoption is part of the firm’s DNA.
“Our firm, as a whole, is interested in making sure we’re at the forefront of generative AI,” Alison Grounds, managing partner, explained. The firm has developed their own in-house AI platform, Athena, and consistently works with clients who are mutually interested in testing new products and sharing success stories.
To help evangelize new technology and increase adoption across the firm, Troutman created an internal taskforce made up of members from different practice areas, such as litigation, IP, privacy, data security, and business. This cross-functional group tests and evaluates new AI products—ultimately building greater trust in the technology across the organization.
Troutman’s warm embrace of generative AI quickly led to some impressive outcomes. For example, in a $20 million real estate litigation, the combination of aiR for Review and Athena cut review time and costs by more than 40 percent and time to completion by more than 50 percent.
Likewise, in a test of aiR for Privilege, the team compared aiR’s results against human coding of 4,300 responsive documents. aiR for Privilege took only five hours total to set up, run, and validate, compared to 130 hours for manual review, with similarly impressive accuracy.
“We were very impressed,” Alison said of aiR for Privilege’s performance. “Everything we’ve tried for privilege has not had the same success we’ve seen with aiR in terms of accuracy and transparency. It really helps to give the confidence you need in the products.”
From Foley & Lardner: Generative AI Can Ease High-Pressure Situations
Foley & Lardner’s history with Relativity runs deep; they were literally our very first customer. Ever. It’s not surprising that they too jumped at the opportunity to be part of the Relativity aiR early access program.
Nick Cole, director of litigation support, shared a few ways the firm has leaned on Relativity aiR for Review to handle high-pressure situations—such as a case requiring the review of tens of thousands of documents in just a few days.
“The alternatives to aiR were not particularly viable,” Nick explained. “We couldn’t get a contract review spun up quickly enough; we didn’t have 50 associates available to spend 24/7 pounding through documents. aiR was the only choice.”
aiR for Review enabled the team to complete the review in just a few days. To say it gave their team an upper hand is an understatement.
“We went to the judge, had arguments, and our attorneys had a much better handle on the document set [than opposing counsel],” Nick said. “We said we’re ready to go to trial … and the other side caved. It was a tremendous result.”
From Perkins Coie: Skip the Legalese in Your AI Prompts
With what Senior Counsel Jessica Tseng Hasen described as a “tech-forward clients base,” Perkins Coie was actively looking for an opportunity to use Relativity aiR for Review on a live matter.
“We as a law firm have made the choice to invest heavily in generative AI products internally and developing our own tools for use,” Jessica explained, “So we’re fortune enough to be dealing with an audience that’s already perceptive to the idea of using generative AI tools in practice.”
To get started, Perkins Coie used aiR for Review in an unexpected way: the firm needed to assign a couple dozen RFPs to a 400,000-document production. Though it’s not how aiR for Review is intended to be used, the team’s ingenuity gave them the chance to experiment with AI prompts and learn a few lessons along the way.
“There’s a lot of really beautifully written prose in [a review protocol]. But we did not need any of that for the prompt. We stripped it down to the barest possible elements,” Jessica shared.
By distilling their prompts down to the most essential information and eliminating unnecessary complexity, Jessica’s team helped the AI to deliver more accurate, targeted results, improving the efficiency of their document review process.
From Quinn Emanuel: Education Will Drive Adoption
For many law firms, generative AI is still a relatively new tool. At Quinn Emanuel, they are proactively integrating AI training into their internal educational series to foster confidence and expertise. This initiative follows a valuable learning experience when a case team expressed hesitation in using generative AI on a case, highlighting the importance of continuous training—especially as the firm has already seen success with tools like Relativity aiR for Review.
“Our point of failure was that we hadn’t educated our attorneys,” explained Nicole Tineo, legal technology advisory services manager. “If there was more exposure and knowledge in the firm, we could have overcome that [hesitancy], and we would have used the technology and been successful.”
Buy-in from the top is essential, but equally important is getting the day-to-day users—attorneys, paralegals, and staff—on board. As Nicole explained, you need to show them how AI can make their jobs easier and deliver results quickly.
In Conclusion: Generative AI Is “Faster, Better, Cheaper”
As generative AI becomes more mainstream, clients will begin to expect law firms to leverage these tools in their legal practices. Nick from Foley & Lardner shared that the ubiquity of generative AI has helped spark interest and ease adoption.
“It’s easier to get buy-in for [generative AI] because everyone knows about ChatGPT, and they’ve played with it,” he explained.
Alison echoed this, adding that Relativity aiR’s transparency helps overcome the usual hesitancy the industry faces with new technology (like technology-assisted review). “It’s impressive to see the rationale. It’s not a black box,” she said.
Nick went on to highlight the bottom line: “[Relativity aiR] is one of those rare moments where it is actually faster, better, cheaper. The clients have spent less money and they’re in the meat of the case much earlier, rather than waiting for the firm to understand the documents months later.”
Want to hear more from our law firm panelists? Watch the full session recording on demand.
Kristy Esparza is a member of the marketing team at Relativity, specializing in content creation and copywriting.
