Ari Kaplan recently spoke with industry leaders, Lynn Tubalinal, the director of litigation support at Dykema, and Julia Voss, the director of litigation support and e-discovery at UB Greensfelder. Their insights were part of the recently published report Advancing Litigation Support to Fuel Growth in a Changing Legal Market, supported by an anonymous organization.

Both executives currently lead teams in addressing challenges made complex by the proliferating volume and diversity of data. The duo discussed what litigators need to navigate this intricate landscape and the application of generative artificial intelligence. Understanding these advancements offers critical insights on steering team technology infrastructure for success and navigating legal techs challenges.

Lynn Tubalinal began her career as a paralegal and leveraged her technical background into a litigation support role. After eight years at Sidley Austin, she transitioned to Dykema.

I started my career as a paralegal and leveraged my technical background into a litigation support role.

— Lynn Tubalinal

Julia Voss transitioned from antitrust litigation to e-discovery professionalism in 2014. She led in adapting the firm’s approach to the evolving Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which are pivotal to litigation processes in the United States. In 2014, Greensfelder appointed her to lead their litigation support and e-discovery initiatives.

Twenty years ago, I had one of the more significant cases in the firm, while the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were changing. I was tasked with figuring it out and then started teaching my peers about those developments. So in 2014, when the firm decided that a lawyer should lead litigation support, they asked me to move into that role.

— Julia Voss

Universal Challenges in the Legal Industry

Providing support to the litigation teams provides the infrastructure to litigation. Directors must rapidly adapt to technological advancements and synergize with litigation peers.

Recognizing the Need for Technological Upgrades

The webinar-report reveals that outdated technology in case management systems often hinders progress. Transitioning to newer technology involves identifying operational gaps where current systems fall short. Julia Voss elaborates:

You start to realize it might be time to look at a new solution when people aren’t using the one you have or there is better technology that can provide more support.

— Julia Voss

Upgrading to solutions that streamline workflows, such as integrating e-discovery tools, requires careful consideration.

Balancing Cost vs. Results and Popularity Among Legal Teams

Lynn Tubalinal adds and discusses embracing emerging generative AI solutions and overshadowing aging systems.

Outdated technology often takes a toll. Litigation teams must balance using outdated technology with the cost and complexity of moving to a better, faster, and more efficient solution.

— Lynn Tubalinal

She stated:

Getting teams to buy into that upgrade can be a challenge. As technologists, we are enthusiastic about improving our tools, but cost, adoption and other variables factor into the ultimate decision to change.

Adoption Strategies for New Technologies

The strate became specific to the introduction and adoption of a powerful tool. Due to the increasing amounts of data, identifying methods for managing the growth has gained essential focus by the legal teams.

Julia Voss highlights success strategies in piloting new
technologies often begins with a small team, showcasing the results
and benefits to influence broader adoption. She opines:

Presenting the attorneys with the benefits instead of highlighting features alone is essential. The most effective strategy is to begin with a small team that pilots the application and presents the results to influence adoption.

— Julia Voss

Julia Voss remains skeptical about adoption strategies, planning to utilize internal expertise first and gradually integrate generative AI to compliment e-disovery platforms.

We have been using different kinds of AI for a long time, but generative AI is the obvious new shiny toy. We had been testing generative AI in our document review platform for a few months, and are starting to expand access to grow adoption.

— Julia Voss

She notes that advocating modern applications like generative AI requires internally rebranding the support teams as data intelligence teams. This shifts perceptions from technical support to value-adding experts, embodying the fusion of technology with legal expertise.

Currently, the leadership at Greensfelder is showcasing the skills of technicians and e-discovery expository staff to raise their expertise and highlight where they can provide an edge, enabling trial teams to center on the merits and improve efficiency while enhancing the legal process overall.

Exploring the Future: Maintaining a Competitive Edge in 2025

The litigat and support teams will continually steer around the complexities of lawsuits frustrating outcomes. Managing not only making the law work but engaging with the right tool shedding light on case management challenges. Keywords: Case management tools.

What didn’t surprise me about this report is that we’re all trying to do some of the same things. We are internally rebranding our group as the data intelligence team. We are showcasing the skills of our technologists and e-discovery counsel to raise their profile and highlight where they can provide support, so the trial teams can focus on the merits of their cases.

— Julia Voss

These tools help to navigate the path to victory in litigation battles or avoid administrative bottlenecks through a well-supported case management system.

Embracing Generative AI in Legal Support

AI, specifically generative AI, is revolutionizing the legal industry. Generative AI is designed to create content, aiding in generating text, images, and other significant data. This, when applied to legal documents, can revolutionize document review processes, making them faster and more efficient. Generative AI can impeccably scan through histories of cases, assisting in efficiently crafting legal strategies with deep insights.

In 2025, the litigation support teams are planning to invest in the practical applications of generative AI, enabling the staff to leverage modern technology for legal insights while championing its success implying adopting positive support while avoiding any leaning sides.

There are different types of AI, not just generative AI, and we have been utilizing more traditional AI in our workflows for years. We just purchased a generative AI component for our e-discovery document review platform and are excited to deploy it.

— Lynn Tubalinal

The scope of AI in legal infrastructure is growing, paving the way for continual growth and development within the industry. Litigation support teams advocate for the inclusion of generative AI in their document-review processes, marking the beginning of a radical shift in the legal industry. Helena explains,

We are of the view that the next big step in AI for legal technology will be the adoption of generative AI within our workflows. Legal support teams must remain cognizant of recent technological advancements and navigate pivotal transitions seamlessly.

— Helena

We anticipate evolving generative AI models and their integration alongside traditional AI systems, fostering a more efficient and productive legal landscape in the future.

All statements reflect the opinions of the author and not necessarily the perspectives of this organization