Generative artificial intelligence tools for legal professionals have been a large part of my focus in this column. Since 2017, I’ve written about all different types of software and have been covering AI tools. After the general release of ChatGPT in November 2022, one of my top priorities has been to include generative AI products designed for legal professionals.

Some of those articles have included coverage of AI tools for litigation practices, including AI software for creating pleadings and managing discovery, legal research and brief writing and analysis. There’s no shortage of AI-powered software that promises to streamline litigation, reduce tedium and increase overall productivity.

I haven’t yet discussed one essential litigation task where AI functionality can save significant time, and as we near the final quarter of the year, several programs and products are or will be available to help with what has long been one of the most labor-intensive tasks for trial attorneys out there: deposition summarization and analysis.

The benefits of AI-powered deposition review software

Using AI-driven algorithms, this technology reduces the time required to review deposition transcripts and extract essential insights. Automating these processes streamlines transcript review, enabling attorneys to focus on more strategic trial preparation tasks.

Some tools in this category can even identify key themes, witness inconsistencies and critical facts, offering deeper insights into the testimony without the need for manual review. In addition to speeding up the process, AI deposition tools can flag important sections, allowing lawyers to dive deeper into relevant issues and improve the overall accuracy of their litigation strategy.

These tools save time by enhancing the speed and precision of deposition analysis, enabling litigation teams to focus more on case preparation and ultimately deliver better outcomes. But to achieve that goal, you must first choose the right software for your law firm.

Key factors in selecting AI for deposition review

When investing in new software, the first step is to determine your goals and identify workflow challenges that have to be solved. Conduct a tech audit beforehand, and identify gaps in your firm’s IT stack. Make sure to obtain feedback from everyone who will be using the software to ensure that you fully understand their needs and preferences.

The next step before researching AI deposition summary and analysis tools is to examine the tools that your firm is already using and ascertain whether the companies have indicated that they plan to incorporate deposition review features into their software in the near future, either through partnerships with other software companies or the addition of these features into their software. After all, why waste time and resources researching and investing in new software if a trusted vendor will soon solve the problem for you?

If you decide that moving forward with new software is the most viable option, you must carefully research your options and choose a tool that meets your firm’s unique needs. The solutions listed below are a great place to start. Once you’ve narrowed it down to one or two tools that are of interest, utilize demos, free trials and any other opportunities to test-drive the software.

But before you do that, there are a few caveats to keep in mind. First, because AI tools are typically cloud-based, you will be entrusting your firm’s confidential client data to a third party. Your ethical obligations require that you thoroughly vet the tech provider hosting and storing your firm’s data. You must identify how your firm’s data will be handled; where the servers on which the data will be stored are located; who will have access to it; and how often and when it will be backed up, among other things.

Additionally, as with all AI software, you’ll want to explore accuracy rates; determine how the company protects your data; and whether your team’s data inputs are used to train AI models to improve responses, among other issues.

Now, let’s explore AI-powered deposition review software. Only publicly released options are included below; the list is not all-inclusive. If available, pricing will be provided.

AI products for deposition review and analysis

First, let’s focus on single-purpose AI tools with document workflows that include deposition summarization and analysis features.

We’ll start with LegalMation, which provides a suite of products that automate litigation tasks. Its Deposition Assistant solution enables the summarization and comparison of multiple deposition transcripts, along with the ability to query against uploaded documents to locate key facts, contradictions and more. Pricing is not available on the website.

Next, Lexlink AI utilizes AI algorithms to streamline the review of documents by automatically identifying, categorizing and extracting information from uploaded legal documents, including deposition transcripts. It assists in identifying and analyzing deposition summaries, timelines and inconsistencies in testimony. Pricing is not available on the website.

Another option is Depo IQ, which analyzes individual or multiple deposition videos and transcripts for sentiment, contradictions and inconsistencies. Summaries can be created, and the ability to query a document is also available. Pricing is not available on the website.

Automatise’s Cicero touts the security of its private platform designed for legal professionals, which can be used with many types of documents, including deposition transcripts. It automates document summarization, chronology preparation and investigative research. Pricing is not available on the website.

Clearbrief is tool that operates as a Word add-on and, among other features, can summarize and analyze documents, including depositions. Timelines can also be created, and multiple deposition transcripts can be compared. Pricing starts at $142 per user per month if paid annually.

CaseMark provides AI capabilities that support several different types of documents, including depositions, with a particular focus on summarization. The product offers multiple summary output formats and includes the ability to query the transcript to locate specific testimony or facts. Pricing starts at $25 per summary.

Finally, the major legal research companies also offer AI tools that provide deposition review functionality, along with many other legal workflow tools. These include vLex’s Vincent AI, Lexis+ AI and CoCounsel, a Thomson Reuters company.

If your firm is already using these platforms for legal research or is in the market for a legal research tool and AI-powered deposition review software, one of these platforms could be a good fit.

Wrapping up

As AI continues to reshape litigation workflows, selecting the right AI deposition review software can enhance your firm’s efficiency. By thoroughly vetting potential tools, ensuring compliance with ethical obligations, and leveraging free trials or demos, you can make an informed decision that fits your specific needs.

With the right AI-powered deposition tool, your firm will save time, improve accuracy and ultimately provide better legal services. Now, it’s time to explore your options to see how these advancements can benefit your practice.

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Nicole Black is a Rochester, New York-based attorney, author and journalist, and she is the principal legal insight strategist at MyCase, a company that offers legal practice management software for small firms. She is the nationally recognized author of Cloud Computing for Lawyers and is co-author of Social Media for Lawyers: The Next Frontier, both published by the American Bar Association. She writes regular columns for ABAJournal.com and Above the Law, has authored hundreds of articles for other publications, and regularly speaks at conferences regarding the intersection of law and emerging technologies. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @nikiblack, or she can be reached at [email protected].

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This column reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily the views of the ABA Journal—or the American Bar Association.

WASHINGTON — The Department of the Interior today announced an updated roadmap for solar energy development across the West, designed to expand solar energy production in more Western states and make renewable energy siting and permitting on America’s public lands more efficient. The Bureau of Land Management also announced the next steps on several renewable projects in Arizona, California and Nevada, representing more than 1,700 megawatts of potential solar generation and 1,300 megawatts of potential battery storage capacity. 

Together, these milestones represent continued momentum from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda – a key pillar of Bidenomics – which is working to accelerate the clean energy and transmission buildout to lower consumers’ energy costs, prevent power outages in the face of extreme weather, create good-paying union jobs, tackle the climate crisis, advance the priorities of clean air and environmental justice for all, and achieve the President’s goal of a 100 percent clean electricity grid by 2035. During the Biden-Harris administration, the BLM has approved 47 clean energy projects and permitted 11,236 megawatts of wind, solar and geothermal energy on public lands – enough to power more than 3.5 million homes. 

“The Interior Department’s work to responsibly and quickly develop renewable energy projects is crucial to achieving the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035 – and this updated solar roadmap will help us get there in more states and on more lands across the West,” said Acting Deputy Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis. “Through historic investments from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the Interior Department is helping build modern, resilient climate infrastructure that protects our communities from the worsening impacts of climate change.” 

“Our public lands are playing a critical role in the clean energy transition – and the progress the Bureau of Land Management is announcing today on several clean energy projects across the West represents our continued momentum in achieving those goals,” said BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning. “Investing in clean and reliable renewable energy represents the BLM’s commitment to building a clean energy economy, tackling the climate crisis, promoting American energy security, and creating jobs in communities across the country.” 

Updated Roadmap for Solar Energy Development on Public Lands 

The Department today published a draft analysis of the Utility-Scale Solar Energy Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (known as the updated Western Solar Plan), which would streamline the BLM’s framework for siting solar energy projects in order to support current and future national clean energy goals, long-term energy security, climate resilience, and improved conservation outcomes. 

The proposal is an update of BLM’s 2012 Western Solar Plan, which identified areas in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah with high solar potential and low resource conflicts in order to guide responsible solar development and provide certainty to developers. Following months of stakeholder engagements – including 15 public scoping meetings – the updated roadmap refines the analysis in the original six states and expands it to include Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming. 

In considering updates to the Western Solar Plan, the BLM worked closely with the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory to examine forecasts for national clean energy needs and determined that approximately 700,000 acres of public lands would be needed to meet those goals. The BLM’s preferred alternative in the updated Western Solar Plan would provide approximately 22 million acres of land open for solar application, giving maximum flexibility to reach the nation’s clean energy goals.  

By directing development to areas that have fewer sensitive resources, less conflict with other uses of public lands, and close proximity to transmission lines, the BLM can permit clean energy more efficiently while maintaining robust public and Tribal engagement, which are central features of all BLM reviews of individual projects. 

BLM utilized $4.3 million from the Inflation Reduction Act to invest in these important updates to the Western Solar Plan. This investment is helping improve the solar development application process by providing developers with better predictability, while also maintaining sufficient flexibility to address site-specific resource considerations. This planning work also seeks to provide updates that respond to changes, like advances in technology, that have occurred since the BLM’s last programmatic solar development planning effort over a decade ago. 

The analysis announced today evaluates six alternatives, each proposing to make different amounts of public land available to solar development applications under different criteria such as proximity to transmission infrastructure, designated critical habitat, or other important ecological and cultural resources. Public input will inform a Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision. The public can submit written comments through April 18, 2024. More details are available on BLM’s Solar Program website. 

Continued Progress on Onshore Renewable Energy Development 

The BLM today also announced next steps on several onshore renewable projects throughout the West, representing significant progress on projects that will help achieve the President’s goal of a 100 percent clean electricity grid by 2035. 

In Nevada, the BLM is advancing four proposed solar projects: 

• The BLM released a draft environmental impact statement for the proposed Libra Solar Project in Mineral and Lyon counties, which, if approved, will generate and store up to 700 megawatts of photovoltaic solar energy that would power approximately 212,233 homes.  
• The BLM released a draft environmental impact statement for the Rough Hat Clark County Solar Project, which, if approved, will add 400 megawatts of clean solar photovoltaic power to the grid, enough to power approximately 121,276 homes. The proposed project would also include a 700-megawatt battery energy storage system.  
• The BLM announced a Notice of Intent for the Dodge Flat II Solar project in Nevada, which, if approved, will generate up to 200 megawatts of photovoltaic solar energy on approximately 700 acres of public lands in Washoe county. This would be enough to power approximately 60,638 homes.  
• The BLM released the draft environmental assessment for the Dry Lake East Energy Center Solar Project, which would build a 200 MW photovoltaic solar facility with 200 MW of battery energy storage and an additional 400 MW battery energy storage facility. 

In California, the BLM will release in the coming days a Notice to Proceed for the Camino Solar Project in Kern County, allowing construction to begin on a 44-megawatt photovoltaic solar facility on 233 acres of public land that will power approximately 13,340 homes.  

In Arizona, the BLM today announced that construction of the White Wing Ranch Solar Project has been completed. White Wing Ranch is a 179-megawatt solar photovoltaic project located on private lands in Yuma County with a generation interconnection (gen-tie) line across approximately 3.5 miles of BLM administered land. This project has the potential to power 54,271 homes.  

The BLM also announced that construction on the Harquahala Valley (HV) Sunrise gen-tie line in Arizona will begin in February. It will connect the HV Sun solar project, which is a 150-megawatt solar photovoltaic project located on 1,000 acres of private lands in Maricopa County, with a gen-tie transmission line across approximately 1.1 miles of BLM administered land. This project will power approximately 45,479 homes. 

The BLM is currently processing 67 utility-scale onshore clean energy projects proposed on public lands in the western United States. This includes solar, wind, and geothermal projects, as well as gen-tie lines that are vital to clean energy projects proposed on non-federal land. These projects have the combined potential to add more than 37 gigawatts of renewable energy to the western electric grid. The BLM is also undertaking the preliminary review of over 195 applications for solar and wind development, as well as 97 applications for solar and wind energy site area testing.