From the EDRM: The Use of Artificial Intelligence in eDiscovery

Editor’s Note: As an industry leader in the use of artificial intelligence to empower cyber discovery and legal discovery efforts, HaystackID is excited to share this new information paper from the EDRM and to highlight the participation of HaystackID eDiscovery expert Matt Sinner as a contributor to this important educational effort. We also strongly support the educational and standardization initiatives of the EDRM and continue to be a proud partner of theirs as they empower the leaders of eDiscovery.

Press Announcement and Paper*

EDRM Announces Publication of  “The Use of Artificial Intelligence in eDiscovery”

Setting the global standards for e-discovery, the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) is pleased to announce the release of its artificial intelligence (AI) paper titled “The Use of Artificial Intelligence in eDiscovery.” Kelly Atherton, senior manager cyber incident response at Norton Rose Fulbright, served as the project trustee.

“We are inundated in the e-discovery space with broad talk of technologies that will help us perform our work more efficiently and accurately at a lower cost. But what does this all even mean?” asks Atherton. “Our drafting team comprised of attorneys, data scientists, and legal technologists sought to create an objective, easy to digest overview for the bench and bar to aid them in better understanding the use of AI in e-discovery. We adopted a broad, working definition of AI for the purpose of this paper and discussed the types of AI used in e-discovery, common uses cases, and ethical considerations. Our hope is those new to AI can use this paper as a starting point to become a more informed consumer and adopter of AI in e-discovery.”

David Cohen, partner, Reed Smith LLP, serves as chair of EDRM’s project trustees.

“There is so much hype about the use of AI in the legal field and whether it may even replace human lawyers. Many legal professionals, however, don’t really understand AI and its practical applications,” says Cohen. “This paper provides a concise and understandable introduction to AI, its current and future applications in litigation discovery and related ethical considerations.”

“Our legal tech and e-discovery community is uniquely positioned to contribute to the formation of AI frameworks, guidelines, and norms with our grounding in ethical considerations,” says Mary Mack, CEO and chief legal technologist at EDRM. “Our AI project team communicated across disciplines and practice areas to produce this work.”

EDRM thanks the AI project team contributors, whose organizations are listed for identification and not endorsement:

  • Mallory Acheson, Nelson Mullins
  • Derek Duarte, BlackStone Discovery
  • Dr. Maura R. Grossman, University of Waterloo and Maura Grossman Law
  • Kelly Atherton, Norton Rose Fulbright
  • Tara Emory, Driven, Inc.
  • Angela Lindstrom, Amazon
  • David Cohen, Reed Smith
  • Jeff Gilles, Relativity
  • Wilzette Louis, Hogan Lovells
  • Herbert Roitblat, Mimecast
  • Matthew Sinner, HaystackID**
  • Bradley Whitecap, Reed Smith

About EDRM

Empowering the leaders of e-discovery, the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) creates global practical resources to improve e-discovery, privacy, security and information governance. Since 2005, EDRM has delivered leadership, standards, tools, guides, and test datasets to improve best practices throughout the world. EDRM has an international presence in 113 countries and a growing and innovative support infrastructure for individuals, law firms, corporations, and government organizations seeking to improve the practice and provision of data and legal discovery. Learn more about the EDRM today at EDRM.net.

Read the original release.


Complete Paper: The Use of Artificial Intelligence in eDiscovery (PDF) – Mouseover to Scroll

AI-Paper-EDRM-Update-10.25.21

*Shared with publisher permission under CC By 4.0.

**About Matt Sinner: Serving as a Senior Analytics Consultant, Matt joined HaystackID in 2020. In this role, he develops and implements workflows utilizing structured analytics, conceptual analytics, and machine learning. He works also closely with project managers, clients, and review teams, providing guidance on appropriate strategies to address varying situations and ensuring delivery of timely and effective solutions for client requests. Prior to joining HaystackID, Matthew was a Senior Analytics Consultant at NightOwl Global. He was in various roles at NightOwl since 2015 and has been active in the eDiscovery space since 2012. Prior to joining NightOwl, Matthew worked with a political advocacy group and organized the intellectual property operations of a specialized construction materials company. With a J.D. from William Mitchell College of Law and a B.A. in Political Science from St. John’s University, Matt is a member of the State of Minnesota Bar Association.