This AI-Driven Deposition Tool Should Become Essential To Any Litigation Practice
Filevine's Depo CoPilot presents one of the best use cases for generative AI in legal.
Filevine announced a plethora of new features and/or products at this week’s Lex Summit event in Salt Lake City. The company also previewed its vision for a platform-driven legal tech landscape, with CEO Ryan Anderson using his opening remarks to invoke Steve Jobs, replaying the announcement of the original iPhone as three devices all in one product. Platforms, Filevine believes, are the inevitable future of technology and it aims to become the single pane of glass for running matters, managing documents, and handling timekeeping tasks.
So there’s a touch of irony that one of the most noteworthy offerings seems destined to be a point solution that Filevine can offer to any number of litigation practices outside the customer base for its full suite. Because based on the glimpses shown at the unveiling, this is a product that every litigation practice will need… and soon.
Filevine packaged its rundown of all the new features added to the platform as an homage to the Eras tour with a heavy hand on Taylor Swift references. Would keynote speaker Jake Gyllenhaal later walk out to “All Too Well”?
No. Of course not. They didn’t want any… ugh… “Bad Blood.”
Anyway, back to the important event: the products announcement. While the crowd enthusiastically cheered all of the new products, everyone knows that any concert set has its true showstopper and the absolute banger of Filevine’s new product Eras tour was Depo CoPilot, an AI deposition tool that allows the user to set goals for the interview and then monitors the deposition in real-time to let the lawyer know if the testimony is meeting those goals and flagging where answers are unclear or inconsistent.
It’s that five-minute recess attorneys take at the end to try to sift through six hours of associate notes to make sure nothing gets missed, except happening in real-time and chronicled by a machine that’s laser focused on the testimony the whole session. A lot of lawyers are in denial about their ability to retain the absolute focus necessary to stay on top of this for several hours. I used to work with a highly experienced attorney who spent depositions and interviews drawing sketches of the participants instead of taking notes (he would have an associate keeping a traditional set of notes). It threw other lawyers for a loop, but over time I realized it actually kept him sharper by setting aside the furious scribbling and allowing him to serenely take in the ebb and flow of a multi-hour deposition. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend trying it at your next deposition, but there is something to be said for the inability of the human mind to process everything when it’s distracted by notetaking and checklists and Post-it Notes at all times.
Depo CoPilot doesn’t have those problems, because it’s constantly evaluating the transcript holistically.
Not sure what it would do with Joe Jamail:
Probably become self-aware like Skynet.
As shown in that screenshot, Depo CoPilot is also generating potential relevant follow-up questions based on the assigned goals and the transcript as it happens and provides the unflinching set of ears that can clue you in when an answer might sound right to you in the moment but that will be unusable gibberish when it’s time to make designations.
Because a lot of lawyers leave depositions thinking they secured a golden snippet of testimony before they try to clip it and have that realization…
The significance of what Filevine presented wasn’t lost on the audience. When the Depo CoPilot section of the presentation ended, a QR code flashed on the screen for attendees to learn more. Phones darted up around the hall. The attendees were in for another treat: four free months of access to the offering but only for firms in attendance. A nice incentive for users out there to send a representative to the show.
Michael Anderson, Filevine’s Chief Product Officer, admitted that this is an offering that will by necessity have life as a point solution in a platform world. But this is an absolute value add. Even an AI skeptic would be hard pressed to dismiss the idea of a guardian robot monitoring the transcript and providing real-time feedback based on your guidance. What’s the downside? If you don’t like one of its follow-up questions, just don’t ask it — but you’re still better off having considered the option.
Depositions slid largely under the radar as a use case amid a frenzy of effort around legal research and contract drafting. But this is one of the most compelling use cases for legal so far. An untiring and vigilant junior associate at your elbow for one of the more mentally taxing activities in litigation.
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
