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.
(Chicago, IL) 19/11/2025 - The International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) welcomes 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."
Key contributors include:
James MacGregor (Project Co-Chair, Ethical eDiscovery), David Wilkins (Project Co-Chair, NRF), Arif Shoeb (Project Manager, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP), Emily Wylie Ballard (RPC), Kevin Bannon (CMS), Charissa Bass (Kirkland & Ellis), Dan Cheal (DLA Piper), Fiona Campbell (Fieldfisher), Reshma Khan (Addleshaw Goddard), Rachel Stephens (Addleshaw Goddard), Mark Chesher (Addleshaw Goddard), Michelle Delgado (Squire Patton Boggs), Andrew Haslam (Squire Patton Boggs), Melina Efstathiou (Eversheds Sutherland), Attila Erin (Clyde & Co.), Gus Fitzgibbon (Linklaters), David Bryant Isbell (Baker McKenzie), 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 (A&O Shearman), Christina Zachariasen (A&O Shearman), Andrew Weekes (Hogan Lovells), Dan Wyatt (RPC), and Nicki Woodfall (Travers Smith).
ILTA extends its gratitude to all contributors for their expertise and dedication. Their collective efforts have produced a resource that supports legal professionals and the courts in achieving consistent, efficient, and principled disclosure outcomes. As an organisation, ILTA’s mission is to advance the use of technology to improve the practice of law by providing education, guidance, and a collaborative platform that help legal professionals work smarter, more efficiently, and with greater transparency.
Building on this success, ILTA has also released the Generative AI Best Practice Guide, providing practical guidance for responsibly incorporating GenAI into disclosure workflows under Practice Direction 57AD.
The full ILTA Active Learning Best Practice Guide is available here:
https://www.iltanet.org/resources/active-learning-best-practices
About ILTA
The International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) serves the professional needs of more than 25,000 international legal technology professionals and their organizations. Since its founding in 1980, the association’s focus is to achieve results for our membership and the legal technology profession at large. Much of the value we provide as an association occurs through the coordinated efforts with our global volunteer membership teams.
For more information about ILTA and its initiatives, please visit www.iltanet.org.