Master of the Rolls and Deputy Head of Civil Justice endorse ILTA Active Learning Best Practice Guide
Master of the Rolls, Sir Geoffrey Vos, and the Chancellor of the High Court, Sir Colin Birss, signal strong judicial support for AI-assisted disclosure guidance.
Ethical eDiscovery and The International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) welcome the proposed statement of support from the Master of the Rolls and Deputy Head of Civil Justice for the ILTA Active Learning Best Practice Guide, a practitioner-led framework designed to ensure the responsible and effective use of Technology Assisted Review (TAR) in disclosure.
The statement:
“The ILTA best practice guide in relation to the use of AI in disclosure is a welcome initiative and we support this guide and its use by practitioners.
This is the kind of consensus guidance produced by practitioners which parties should consider when looking at how they intend to use TAR/AI in disclosure.”
This judicial endorsement marks a significant milestone for the UK legal technology community. Support from the Master of the Rolls and Lord Justice Birss, the recently appointed Chancellor of the High Court, underscores the growing recognition of AI’s role in promoting fair, efficient, and transparent disclosure processes. While not formally incorporated into the Practice Direction, this statement reinforces the guide’s authority and practical value across the profession.
The ILTA Active Learning Best Practice Guide reflects a collaborative effort among leading practitioners and technology experts to define responsible AI use in litigation and disclosure. It balances innovation with procedural integrity and aligns with judicial expectations for transparency and proportionality.
James MacGregor, Project Co-Chair and Managing Director at Ethical eDiscovery, said:
“Our aim was to create a resource that bridges the gap between evolving technology and legal best practice. A statement of judicial support validates the work of practitioners helping the profession navigate this new frontier responsibly.”
The project was co-chaired by James MacGregor, Managing Director at Ethical eDiscovery, and David Wilkins, eDiscovery Technical Lead at Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF), with Arif Shoeb, Project Manager at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, serving as Project Manager. Contributors included Emily Wylie Ballard (RPC), Kevin Bannon (CMS), Charissa Bass (Kirkland & Ellis), Dan Cheal (DLA Piper), Fiona Campbell (Fieldfisher), Reshma Khan, Rachel Stephens, and Mark Chesher (Addleshaw Goddard), Michelle Delgado and Andrew Haslam (Squire Patton Boggs), Melina Efstathiou (Eversheds Sutherland), Attila Erin (Clyde & Co.), Gus Fitzgibbon (Linklaters), David Bryant Isbell and Matt Lan (Baker McKenzie), Lucia Quy (Webber Wentzel Fusion), Meghan Ryan (Herbert Smith Freehills), Mark Simmons (Ashurst LLP), Sonal Patel (Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP), Daniel Smith and Christina Zachariasen (A&O Shearman), Andrew Weekes (Hogan Lovells), Dan Wyatt (RPC; London Solicitors Litigation Association Committee Member), and Nicki Woodfall (Travers Smith).
Ethical eDiscovery is proud to have contributed to this important guide and extends its gratitude to all contributors, and especially to ILTA, for providing a platform to share expertise and commitment. Guided by our core values of ethics, fairness, and unbiased use of technology, we strive to promote responsible access to technology for all.
This collaborative effort has produced a resource that supports legal professionals and the courts in achieving consistent, efficient, and principled disclosure outcomes while upholding the highest standards of integrity and fairness.
Building on this success, James MacGregor also contributed to the recently released ILTA Generative AI Best Practice Guide, which provides practical and in-depth guidance on responsibly incorporating Generative AI into disclosure workflows under Practice Direction 57AD.
The full ILTA Active Learning Best Practice Guide AND GenAi Best Practice Guide are available here:
https://www.iltanet.org/resources/active-learning-best-practices
For more information, visit: https://www.iltanet.org
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