5 Steps to Prepare Your Team for In-House Document Review

It’s no wonder why document review is increasingly moving in-house at both public and private organizations. Not only does it account for approximately 75% of e-discovery costs, but organizations are also finding more and more use cases for document review technology, including:

• Internal and regulatory investigations

• Data breach response

• Data subject access requests (DSARs)

• Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and public record request (PRR) responses.

In fact, in the 2021 Legal Technology Report for In-House Counsel from Exterro and the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), over 70% of companies over $1 billion in annual revenue reported they either have or plan to purchase document review technology.

But any significant investment in SaaS technology requires more than just implementing software. To achieve a high ROI, you must prepare your "people" strategy. Here are the critical steps to take on the human side of the equation.

Identify where key capabilities reside on your IT and legal teams

Document review requires both operational and legal mindsets. Identify team members who understand:

• The requirements of e-discovery, risk, and compliance.
• Privacy regulations and their impact on data.
• The technical baseline of where data resides and how to preserve or retrieve it.

Secure executive support for bringing review in-house

Understand the levers that motivate leadership. Modern review technology can reduce legal costs and mitigate security risks. Align your goals with executive priorities (e.g., cost reduction vs. risk mitigation) to create clear-cut ways to evaluate success.

Identify who will conduct document review

Investing in technology doesn’t necessarily mean hiring a massive in-house team.

• In-House Teams: Best for consistent volumes, such as frequent FOIA or public records requests.
• Hybrid/External Teams: For fluctuating volumes, you can use law firms or service providers who log into your secure platform, such as Exterro Review. This allows you to scale up while retaining control over the process and data.

Secure a dedicated document review team

Avoid relying on "shared resources." If team members have competing priorities, critical e-discovery tasks may be deprioritized at the exact moment they are most needed. Defined responsibilities are essential for defensibility.

Train your document review team appropriately

Dissatisfaction often stems from a lack of understanding. Ensure your team knows:

1. The entire EDRM (Electronic Discovery Reference Model) process.
2. How their specific contributions fit into larger strategic goals.
3. How to fully utilize the features of your chosen technology.

2026 Perspective: Review in the Age of AI Agents

As we move through 2026, the "people" side of document review has shifted toward oversight rather than manual labor.

• Reviewer as Auditor: In 2026, the primary role of a reviewer is no longer "eyes-on-document" for every file. Instead, human reviewers act as auditors for Agentic AI systems that perform first-pass reviews and sensitivity tagging with near-perfect accuracy.
• Skill Shift: The most valuable team members in 2026 are those who understand Prompt Engineering and AI Validation—ensuring that the AI's logic is sound and defensible in court.
• Proactive Privacy: Modern review teams now use AI to proactively identify and redact PII (Personally Identifiable Information) across the entire enterprise, turning "review" into a continuous compliance function rather than a reactive litigation step.

To learn more about moving document review in-house, download: Bringing Document Review In-House: A Self-Assessment Checklist.

With the rise of AI-driven first-pass review in 2026, is your team's biggest challenge shifting from finding enough reviewers to finding the right people to audit the AI's work?

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