USA - NATIONWIDE: An Introduction to eDiscovery
Navigating eDiscovery in 2025: Economic Pressures, Regulatory Shifts and the AI Advantage
As we move through 2025, legal teams are operating in a climate of elevated complexity. Global economic uncertainty driven by trade disputes, shifting regulatory frameworks, increasing demands from evolving data sources and rising client expectations are converging to reshape how eDiscovery and information governance are approached. But inside that turbulence lies clarity: artificial intelligence is not just a helpful tool – it is the path forward.
Enterprise AI adoption has increased substantially since last year and, more importantly, confidence in AI’s role in legal has grown significantly. Legal professionals are no longer asking “if” AI can be effective, but “how” it can be deployed. The answers to that question are already driving better outcomes and more resilient legal operations.
A Shifting Economic and Regulatory Environment
The economic backdrop for legal services in 2025 is marked by mixed signals. Law firm billing rates are at historic highs, but those gains are offset by rising overhead, talent costs and inconsistent demand. Economic uncertainty, including renewed global trade tensions and tariff escalations, is forcing corporate legal departments to scrutinise spend more than ever.
Meanwhile, regulatory complexity is rising in tandem. Eight new state privacy statutes have come into effect in the US alone this year, each with its nuances around data subject rights, consent and retention. The European Union’s AI Act, which begins phased enforcement in August 2025, imposes transparency and accountability obligations for any “high-risk” or general-purpose AI.
In terms of antitrust enforcement, changes in leadership, new rules and market volatility are driving record unpredictability in HSR Second Requests. However, there are some potential indicators for enforcement. FTC and DOJ data show that certain industries face consistent scrutiny, making them more likely to trigger Second Requests, including: consumer goods and services, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, big tech and energy.
These dynamics are increasing the pressure on legal teams to work smarter, move faster and remain in compliance – all while facing flat or declining budgets.
AI: From Hype to Real-World Impact
Teams and practitioners who are starting to use AI in eDiscovery are seeing gains in accuracy, speed, ROI and scale. With maturation in the industry’s view of AI, it is now seen as even more of a strategic imperative and a way to empower attorneys, becoming a central force in how forward-looking teams are planning to manage risk and deliver value.
There are some notable and varied examples where we see AI providing substantial value to attorneys and legal teams.
Accelerated review
Traditional linear review cannot keep pace with the volume and complexity of modern data. Predictive AI dramatically reduces the number of documents requiring manual review by accurately classifying responsiveness and privilege.
Generative AI for work product creation
The introduction of generative AI is reshaping how legal teams produce documents. Instead of spending hours drafting privilege logs or issue summaries, practitioners can now use generative models to automate these time-consuming tasks.
Proactive risk management
The nuanced risk assessment and strategy that your legal and compliance teams provide can be augmented by AI (for example, Microsoft Copilot). They are using these tools to enhance communication compliance, enhance data loss prevention frameworks, conduct insider risk management and streamline eDiscovery. This shift to early detection is allowing legal teams to play a more active role in mitigating enterprise risk.
Scaling legal support
With AI embedded into workflows, teams can take on more matters simultaneously and attorneys can focus on high-value work. This is particularly crucial in periods of fluctuating litigation volume, internal investigations or regulatory deadlines like Second Requests, where speed and coverage matter most.
Managing Risks While Capturing Value
Despite AI’s promise, legal teams remain cautious – and rightly so. The risks of bias, over-reliance or lack of transparency cannot be ignored. But here, too, progress is being made.
According to our annual survey of legal professionals on AI, trust in tools has increased significantly, especially when they come with the right human oversight. The most successful legal teams are building governance frameworks that ensure:
- human-in-the-loop review of AI outputs in sensitive contexts (eg, privilege, PII, protected categories);
- clear documentation of model usage, decision logic and accuracy thresholds;
- regular validation of outputs using traditional sampling, QC and comparison against human results; and
- auditable processes that can be disclosed to regulators, courts or internal stakeholders.
These controls do not just manage risk – they also build confidence across the organisation, unlocking broader AI usage beyond review and into strategy, compliance and advisory functions.
Preparing for What’s Next
To capitalise on AI’s full potential in eDiscovery, legal leaders should be focusing on three key investments.
- People and training – AI tools are only as effective as the people using them. Upskilling legal teams – reviewers, managers and in-house counsel – to interact with, validate and interpret AI outputs is a critical enabler. Training programmes that combine legal expertise with basic data literacy are becoming standard at leading firms.
- Workflow optimisation – AI should not be layered on top of outdated workflows. Matter intake, data collection and review protocols must be re-architected to support AI integration from the ground up.
- Cross-functional alignment – Legal, privacy, compliance and IT must work together to ensure that data governance, access controls and AI usage policies are consistent. This collaboration also enables legal teams to get ahead of risk – by participating in the AI governance committees that are emerging across industries to manage enterprise AI risk more broadly.
The Bigger Opportunity
In the face of economic strain and regulatory pressure, AI is allowing legal departments to do more than survive – it is enabling them to lead. By adopting AI tools that are purpose-built, ethically governed and integrated into modern workflows, legal teams can shift from reactive cost centres to proactive, strategic partners to the business.
They can respond to regulatory scrutiny with precision, adapt to shifting data sources with speed, and offer insights that shape decisions before litigation or investigation ever occurs.
The playbook is clear: embrace AI not just as a cost-saver, but as a capability-builder. Pair that with measurable ROI, clear audit trails and ethical guardrails, and AI becomes more than a trend – it becomes a durable competitive advantage in legal operations.
2025 has brought no shortage of challenges to the legal profession. But it has also opened the door to transformation. By leaning into responsibly deployed AI, modernising eDiscovery workflows and strengthening governance, legal teams can rise above the noise and help chart a clearer path through complexity – for themselves, their organisations and their clients.