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ARTICLE · 21 JULY 2026

Old Rules, New Tools: N.D. Cal. Applies Traditional TAR Principles To Generative AI Discovery

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A recent Northern District of California decision provides crucial guidance on using generative AI tools in legal discovery, establishing that courts will treat AI-powered document review as a form of traditional Technology Assisted Review rather than a novel discovery category. The ruling addresses key questions about pre-filtering documents with search terms and the extent to which parties must disclose AI review metrics to opposing counsel.

United StatesTechnology
Christopher Davies
Christopher Davies
Marissa M. Wenzel
Marissa M. Wenzel
Zviad V. Guruli
Zviad V. Guruli
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As parties continue to use generative AI tools in discovery, a recent decision from the Northern District of California, Schulte v. LinkedIn Corp. (N.D. Cal. June 30, 2026), provides welcome guidance. To assist in reviewing custodial documents for responsiveness, LinkedIn planned to use aiR, a generative AI-powered document review product offered within the Relativity platform. The plaintiffs raised several challenges. The court rejected all of them.

Three takeaways from the ruling stand out:

  • First and foremost, the decision indicates that courts will treat generative AI review as a new form of traditional Technology Assisted Review (TAR) rather than a novel category of discovery.
  • Second, parties will likely be allowed to use appropriate search terms to “pre-cull” documents before feeding them into a generative AI review tool.

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