From the bar to the bench, e-discovery is now ingrained in the psyche of legal technology itself, be it legislation or software redefining the way lawyers obtain information. And while the first wave of e-discovery evolution was driven by changes in how we create information, the next step is being made by advances in both technology and the increasing difficulty of handling massive data sets.

One of the most impactful technological advancements on e-discovery is also one changing the world beyond legal technology: automation. Whether you call it artificial intelligence, machine learning, or in the case of e-discovery, technology assisted review (TAR), automation is expected to shake up the legal industry itself in the near future. As technology theorist and author Richard Susskind told Legaltech News, technologies “are enabling machines to take on many of the tasks that many used to think required human lawyers, and that's not plateauing. It seems to be happening at quite a rate.”

Now, the technology needed to automate components of the discovery process is readily available and in use at many of the major law firms in the United States. And using that technology may soon not optional—given the size of clients' data sets, firms may have to look toward automation for discovery. But for now, how are law firms meeting the demand of their clients, and what benefits can be gained from their experience?