RelFest Chicago 2026 sent one message through every keynote, session, and hallway conversation: AI is no longer an add-on in eDiscovery. It’s the platform. RelativityOne is now Relativity aiR, and in September alone, aiR Review usage passed all of 2025.
But the real question isn’t how fast AI can review. It’s who validates the results.
Dominic Hithon, VP Business Development at Aeren LPO, came home from Chicago with four takeaways on speed, validation, skills, and value.
We captured everything: the key themes, the hard truths, and what it means for law firms, corporate legal teams, and review providers.
Key Takeaways
Speed without constraint goes too fast. Match the tool to the task, and build in QC, validation, and human oversight. Proportionality still matters.
- Validation is the new first-pass review. Cull 1 million documents down to 15% and 150,000 still need validation, privilege review, redaction, and production.
- The skills gap nobody’s billing for. If AI takes the first pass, where do new reviewers learn the judgment that validation requires?
- Value vs. the billable hour. Clients want value and cost efficiency. Some matters need the Ferrari; many just need a reliable car and a skilled driver.
“AI is now the cook in the kitchen. But the cook’s work is only as good as the person who knows how to taste it.” —
Dominic Hithon, VP Business Development, Aeren LPO
IF WE MET AT RELFEST…
It was great connecting. Whether we spoke briefly or had a longer conversation, here’s where Aeren LPO fits into your world:
What We Help With:
- India-based reviewers and Relativity project managers working inside your Relativity aiR environment
- Validation of AI results: prompt validation, precision/recall sampling, and QC of every AI-flagged set
- Privilege calls, redactions, and second-level review
- Overnight review cycles, so your team wakes up to finished work
- Support for class action, multi-district litigation, and mass tort matters
- Investigations, regulatory requests, DSARs, and cyber incident response review alongside litigation
- Contract lifecycle support alongside litigation workflows
Why Teams Come Back:
- Cost without compromise: defensible quality at a lower cost per matter
- Global-hours review teams for 24/7 turnaround
- 800+ certified reviewers and 50+ practice managers, scalable in days, not weeks
- ISO certified + SOC 2 Type II + GDPR compliant infrastructure
- Transparent metrics with real-time reporting and dual-layer QC on every matter
AI does the first pass. We help make it defensible.