This week we welcome Chan Hee-Koh, CEO and co-founder, and Justin Brownstone, Strategic Partnership Lead at FileRead. As legal professionals and tech enthusiasts gear up for LegalWeek, the conversation starts with some lighthearted banter about the best places to visit in New York—including a passionate endorsement of Angelina in Paris' hot chocolate. However, the discussion quickly turns toward the evolving role of AI in the legal industry and how FileRead is shaping the future of litigation technology.
Chan shares the deeply personal story that inspired FileRead’s creation: his immigrant family’s experience during the 2008 housing crisis. Seeing how legal services were out of reach for many due to the complexity and cost of litigation, he set out to develop a platform that could make legal discovery and fact-finding more accessible and efficient. FileRead focuses on litigation-specific AI applications, aiming to streamline document review, build stronger factual narratives, and uncover hidden stories within vast amounts of case data. The discussion also touches on the industry's skepticism toward AI and the need for legal tech companies to build trust and demonstrate real value.
The conversation then turns to FileRead’s recent growth and roadmap for 2025. Having secured a $6 million seed funding round and a strategic partnership with Simplify, the company is expanding its capabilities beyond Relativity to offer a standalone AI-powered litigation analysis platform. Justin highlights how FileRead’s technology goes beyond standard eDiscovery tools by enabling instant document analysis, chronology building, and memo drafting—tasks that traditionally take weeks of manual work. The team is also working on developing litigation workflows that will automate complex fact-checking processes, helping lawyers assess case strengths and identify missing evidence more efficiently.
A key theme of the episode is the legal industry’s slow but inevitable adoption of AI. Chan and Justin discuss how legal workflows are fundamentally different from those in other industries due to the uncertainty and unpredictability of litigation. Unlike transactional law, where contracts and compliance processes are more standardized, litigation involves a constantly shifting landscape where new evidence and legal arguments can completely change the direction of a case. The hosts and guests explore how AI is beginning to bridge the gap between human expertise and technological efficiency, making legal work more strategic and less burdened by repetitive document review.
As the episode wraps up, the hosts reflect on the rapid evolution of legal technology. Greg and Marlene note that while AI has been discussed in legal tech for years, the capabilities of large language models (LLMs) have dramatically accelerated in just the last two years. Chan and Justin acknowledge that staying ahead in this fast-moving space requires constant experimentation and adaptation. However, they emphasize that while technology can enhance legal work, people remain at the center of the industry. AI should be seen as a tool that empowers attorneys rather than replaces them. To learn more about FileRead, visit FileRead.com, or reach out directly to Chan and Justin via email.
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Blue Sky: @geeklawblog.com @marlgeb
Email: geekinreviewpodcast@gmail.com
Music: Jerry David DeCicca
Transcript
