When Precedent Has No Citation: Filevine's Semantic Citator

Legal AI pioneer Filevine, led by CEO Ryan Anderson, is set to unveil "semantic shepherdization" on September 1st, a significant advancement for lawyers. This new AI-driven feature, integrated into Filevine's LOIS platform, moves beyond traditional citation-based legal research. Unlike established giants LexisNexis and Westlaw, which track direct citations to verify "good law," Filevine's LOIS identifies semantic similarities in legal reasoning. This allows it to uncover relevant precedents even when not directly cited, potentially revealing "best arguments" that traditional systems miss. Filevine is positioning itself as a formidable competitor in the legal tech landscape.

Filevine, the fast growing legal AI pioneer, led by the articulate and charismatic Ryan Anderson, once again is showing lawyers the future of AI productivity support. In a move that seasoned lawyers will see as a big deal, Filevine will announce on September first that it is introducing semantic “shepherdization.” For readers who are not lawyers, one of the key skill sets of lawyers, particularly litigators, is understanding what is precedent-- what have courts decided in the past on a given issue. The history of legal Shepherd izing—the legal research process of verifying whether a court opinion or statute is still “good law,” began more than 150 years ago when Frank Shepherd invited the “citator” as a productivity tool for lawyers. What began as a physical practice of tearing and pasting stickers evolved into a multi-million-dollar digital infrastructure-- pasting the trademarked term "Shepardizing" into the lexicon of lawyers, while creating fear in the hearts of every young lawyer who has nightmares about “missing a case.”

Shepard’s moved online in 1980, but it wasn’t until LexisNexis acquired Shepard’s in 1999 that the research tool’s online platform gained the extensive analytical capabilities today’s users have come to appreciate. Westlaw, with a slightly larger market share, traces it’s roots to 1872, uses a similar tried and true system of legal research that some have found to be more accurate, based on a “Keycite” system. Both Lexis and Westlaw have moved heavily into the AI world with impressive systems. But both still focus on following particular citations through legal systems and legal histories. These two giants in legal tech now have a new competitor. Filevine’s LOIS, or “legal operating intelligence system," can find semantic similarities even if a particular case is not cited by another court, focusing on the underlying reasoning rather than on a particular name. As Ryan Anderson told me, “Westlaw and Lexis are blind to your best arguments.”

LOIS, best known for a slick video starring Sarah Rafferty (famous for her role as Donna Paulsen in Suits) as a senior litigator in a promotional short film, integrates directly into case files, documents, calendars, and communications to execute tasks. Now, the system can contextually shepherdize along with its other productivity processes, adding onto, if not replacing, other search tools. Kyle Usner, Associate Attorney, Mass Torts, Insurance Claim HQ, said “For medical records review, LOIS is saving some cases hours. My paralegals and I always click back to verify the source. That’s what gives us confidence-- it’s not making things up.”