Why General Counsels Are Pushing for Tech-Driven Litigation Strategies

With corporate legal teams operating under unprecedented pressure, general counsels are turning to technology to modernize litigation work and deliver results that align with business expectations. 

In this article, I’ll examine why legal departments are adopting tech-driven strategies – and the impact this has on both businesses and their outside counsel.

3 trends driving tech-driven litigation

As of 2025, more than 4 in 10 corporate legal teams report using legal technology frequently or all the time. This is a 10-point increase from 2024, according to Legal Business and Thomson Reuters.

This rapid adoption reflects ‌mounting pressures on corporate legal departments and the growing recognition that tech use is essential for in-house teams to meet business expectations.

1. Increased caseload and complexity

Modern disputes are larger, faster, and more data-heavy than ever. From cloud storage and collaboration tools to mobile communications and social media, the evidence footprint keeps expanding, creating operational strain that manual processes can’t absorb. 

And it’s not just data sources: Each matter now spans more custodians and document volumes than ever before, which is stretching traditional processes beyond their limits. 

To keep up, legal teams are increasingly dependent on technology for the scalability and speed required to manage these matters efficiently – and to focus on strategy rather than drowning in an increasing influx of menial tasks.

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2. Pressure to do more with less

As most general counsels are all too aware, legal departments are often viewed as cost centers – expected to control outside counsel spend while maintaining the same or greater output with limited headcount. Resource constraints are a constant reality. 

In this environment, technology becomes essential to sustaining performance. Automation, AI-assisted review, and integrated case management tools reduce administrative burden and free in-house lawyers to concentrate on high-value legal and business advisory work.

3. Increased expectation to align with the business

Legal departments are no longer measured solely by the outcomes of individual cases. They’re judged by how effectively they contribute to organizational goals. 

Data-driven insights from modern litigation platforms help general counsels demonstrate value, forecast spend, and align legal strategy with the company’s broader risk and financial objectives. 

By leveraging technology, legal leaders can provide the transparency and predictability that boards and executive teams increasingly expect from every function in the business.

4 benefits of legal tech in litigation

As legal departments integrate technology into their litigation work, they’re realizing measurable gains in efficiency, accuracy, and collaboration.

Gain 1: Efficiency and productivity

For many in-house legal teams, the clearest and most immediate gains from technology are efficiency and productivity. Tech automates repetitive, time-intensive tasks like document review, data collection, and production — areas that traditionally consume most of a legal team’s time and budget. 

For instance, with DISCO’s technology, legal teams can achieve:

• 87% time savings on fact investigation with Cecilia Q&A
• 32,000 documents reviewed per hour with Auto Review
• 98% faster deposition summaries with  Cecilia Deposition Summaries

The result is a more efficient process that enables in-house teams and outside counsel to focus on case strategy and high-value decision-making. 

Gain 2: Accuracy and risk management

For forward-thinking in-house teams, technology has become critical in rooting out errors that can have significant consequences in litigation. Advanced analytics and AI tools improve quality control by flagging inconsistencies, highlighting privileged content, and identifying patterns reviewers might miss. 

These capabilities reduce the risk of human error and help ensure compliance with evolving regulatory standards.

In some cases, technology can even surpass human accuracy. A good example is DISCO Auto Review, which uses advanced large language models to evaluate document relevance and identify key patterns, concepts, and context across entire data sets. 

One litigation boutique saw these advantages firsthand when a court gave them just five weeks to complete discovery. The compressed schedule left a 45,000-document backlog and almost no time for quality control. 

The team turned to DISCO’s Auto Review and completed the review in just over two hours, with 95% recall and 91% precision, far exceeding typical human benchmarks. That speed and accuracy allowed attorneys to focus their expertise where it mattered most: case strategy and quality assurance.

Gain 3: Cost reduction

Legal technology directly reduces litigation costs by shortening review cycles, optimizing resource allocation, and increasing internal capacity. 

With DISCO, for example, an international construction company achieved a 40% cost reduction in a matter that required the review of 14 TB of data (9 million documents) across four continents with a tight six-week deadline. The team was able to meet the six-week review deadline thanks to the speed, optimization, and scalability of the platform across the world. 

DISCO also provided on-the-ground project management support in Cape Town and round-the-clock support from the U.S. and Europe across multiple time zones. 

Advanced automation in legal technology allows teams to bring large-scale document review in-house, while data-driven insights allow more accurate forecasting and budget control. In addition, predictable pricing models, like those offered through managed review services, help GCs defend their budgets and demonstrate ROI to business leadership.

Gain 4: Improved collaboration

Litigation often requires coordination among internal stakeholders, outside counsel, and service providers. Unified platforms enable seamless information sharing, version control, and communication, ensuring all parties work from the same set of facts. 

This not only improves efficiency but also strengthens partnerships, transforming outside counsel relationships into true strategic collaborations.

These operational gains are only the foundation. As technology becomes integral to litigation management, it is also emerging as a source of strategic advantage.

Strategic considerations of legal tech

Beyond its operational impact, technology is reshaping how legal departments approach strategy. With tools that combine analytics, automation, and AI, general counsels can anticipate risk, make smarter decisions, and strengthen their competitive position.

Competitive advantage

Early adopters of legal technology — especially generative AI — are already realizing measurable advantages. For example, DISCO's Cecilia provides 98% faster deposition summaries, while its technology-assisted review yields a 30% to 80% reduction in most document populations and a 50% reduction in re-review rates.

Across the industry, innovations like these are enabling quicker case assessment and better-informed strategy decisions. Modern litigation platforms also deliver real-time insights into matter status and performance, helping GCs demonstrate value to executives and boards.

In data-driven industries, a tech-enabled legal department is a clear differentiator. It signals operational maturity and readiness for future challenges — and shows leadership that the team can move fast without sacrificing rigor.

Proactive litigation strategies

Legal technology no longer just supports the discovery process. It informs how cases are approached from the outset. 

Predictive analytics and AI modeling help legal teams anticipate outcomes, compare settlement options, and adjust strategies well before trial. These tools shift litigation management from reactive to proactive, allowing organizations to manage risk and protect business interests more precisely.

Ethical and responsible use

As technology becomes central to litigation work, general counsels are responsible for making sure it’s used ethically and effectively. Beyond choosing tools that meet policy requirements, they must understand how technologies — especially AI — are developed, applied, and governed inside their organizations.

AI systems should operate with transparency and human oversight, following clear standards for data use, accuracy, and compliance. Building those guardrails establishes trust within the legal department and across the business. This kind of stewardship reinforces the GC’s role as a protector of both legal outcomes and corporate integrity.

Read more in our white paper, Legal AI: Driving the Future of the Profession

Key priorities for effective implementation of new technology

New technology delivers real results only when legal teams and their business counterparts understand how to use it, why it matters, and how to measure success. For general counsels, effective implementation comes down to two priorities: engaging stakeholders and managing change.

Effectively engaging stakeholders

Effective adoption starts with collaboration. Involving IT, business leaders, and legal staff early ensures that technology investments solve real problems and align with broader business goals.

When evaluating technology, look for ROI, real case studies from other legal departments, and evidence that it fills actual gaps in your stack. Then pilot it with a small group and make sure training is part of the rollout.

Adoption tends to be smoother and more sustainable when stakeholders understand how the platform will improve their work. Before selecting a tool, gather their input to confirm it’s the right fit, and run a pilot program before rolling it out more widely. 

Managing change

Even the best technology fails without a plan for cultural change. Legal teams already work under intense deadlines, and a new tool can feel like a slowdown rather than an improvement.

General counsels can build momentum by starting small — choose one process or practice area to modernize and make early successes visible. Explain how the new approach reduces risk or improves accuracy so teams understand the benefit, not just the change. Then set measurable goals and report progress frequently to show impact.

A good practice is to establish KPIs to see if the tech is solving the problems it was meant to solve and follow up with periodic surveys to check how the team feels about it.

Regular training and peer advocates help sustain adoption after launch. Encourage feedback loops so teams can share what’s working and flag issues early. The goal isn’t just adoption—it’s lasting transformation.

Transforming litigation through partnership

As legal departments embrace technology to modernize litigation, one truth stands out: the best results come from pairing innovative tools with a trusted partner. The combination of advanced AI, cloud-native software, and expert services allows GCs to build the efficiency, accuracy, and predictability their organizations demand — without sacrificing control or quality. That partnership model is at the core of how DISCO works.

DISCO works alongside legal departments and outside counsel to tailor technology to each matter's needs. The result is a seamless, defensible process that supports every phase of litigation and lets legal teams focus on strategy, confident their technology will deliver.

Technology may drive the transformation of litigation, but partnership sustains it. With DISCO, you’re not just adopting new tools. You’re gaining a team that’s with you in every case.

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