eDiscovery Day 2026 to “Put AI on Trial” with Live Debate Judged by a Sitting Federal Judge on December 3

LegalOps.com to join Exterro, ACEDS, EDRM and eDiscovery Today as sponsors of 12th annual celebration of eDiscovery; Launches industry’s first Rising Stars Award

PORTLAND, Ore., Sept. 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Exterro, which founded eDiscovery Day in 2015, today announced the twelfth annual observance of eDiscovery Day will be celebrated on Thursday, December 3, 2026. eDiscovery Day co-sponsors ACEDS, EDRM and eDiscovery Today will be joined for the first time by LegalOps.com and introduce the first annual Rising Stars of eDiscovery awards, presented by eDiscovery Sponsors. Registration for the keynote and nominations for the industry's first Rising Stars of eDiscovery award are open now at eDiscoveryDay.com.

In 2025, the industry was still debating whether AI belonged in eDiscovery at all. This year's keynote moves the industry's AI conversation forward. On December 3, US District Judge Xavier Rodriquez will preside over this year's keynote “In a New AI World, Who Does the Work Now?" which will put a harder question in front of the profession: what should AI be trusted to execute, and what should stay with people. The keynote runs 75 minutes, live at 8:00 AM PT / 11:00 AM ET on December 3.

The Oral Argument
At the center of the keynote is a live Oral Argument: four practitioners arguing assigned sides on whether AI is ready to execute eDiscovery work while humans approve, questioned from the bench by Judge Rodriguez who has served on the federal bench for the Western District of Texas since 2003 and previously sat on the Supreme Court of Texas. The audience will be polled before and after the debate to decide who wins.

Arguing the case:

• Lea Malani Bays, a partner at Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP who counsels the firm's multi-disciplinary eDiscovery team and helped secure the $131 million settlement in Bennett v. Sprint Nextel Corp.;
• Porschia Clarke, Counsel at Duke Energy, who leads eDiscovery modernization inside one of the country's most heavily regulated industries;
• David Cowen, founder of the SOLID Summit Series and President of The Cowen Group, who has spent two decades connecting the legal industry's senior leaders and now tracks where AI is creating new roles across the profession; and
• Khrhysna "Khrys" McKinney, founder and CEO of K L McKinney, a thirty-year veteran of legal technology and a trustee of EDRM's AI Ethics and Bias project.

Moderating:

• Doug Austin, Editor of eDiscovery Today.
  

"We started eDiscovery Day in 2015 on a simple belief: this industry solves its hardest problems faster when it solves them together. Eleven years later, the question in front of us has changed, but that belief hasn't. The debate is no longer whether AI belongs in this work, it's the exact point where a legal team hands over the objective and where they hold the line. That's not a question any one company should be settling for the rest of the industry. It's why we put it in front of a sitting federal judge instead of a panel that already agrees. Eleven years in, this community still shows up to argue it out in public. That's the part I'm proudest of." - Bobby Balachandran, Founder and CEO, Exterro."

New Industry Research
The keynote will also unveil new research into how legal and eDiscovery professionals are actually using AI today. The research is built jointly by all five partner organizations and is intended to become an annual benchmark the profession returns to as the answer to who does the work continues to shift. Full findings go live during the keynote.

Rising Stars of eDiscovery
eDiscovery Day is also launching the Rising Stars of eDiscovery award, a new recognition for practitioners early in their eDiscovery careers — a group the profession has never formally recognized before.

Eligible nominees:

• Work in-house, at a law firm, or in government
• Practice in eDiscovery, legal operations, litigation support, or a related discipline
• Have five years or less of experience in the eDiscovery field
  

Not eligible: Employees of software and technology vendors, service providers, ALSPs, consultancies, and the founding partner organizations.

How it works:

• Nominations, including self-nominations, are open now through November 6, 2026, at surveymonkey.com/r/rising-stars-of-ediscovery-nomination
• A judging panel with one representative from each partner organization scores nominees on craft, impact, judgment, contribution to the field, and career trajectory
• Winners will be announced live at the December 3 keynote
• Winners are featured across each partner's channels, including podcast and webinar appearances, published interviews, and a winner profile on eDiscoveryDay.com

The full eDiscovery Day agenda, additional featured sessions from each partner organization, and in-person networking events in select cities will be announced in the coming months on eDiscoveryDay.com.

About eDiscovery Day
Founded in 2015 by Exterro, eDiscovery Day highlights the important and growing role eDiscovery plays in the legal process and celebrates the dedicated professionals who perform these vital tasks. Every year, eDiscovery Day festivities include educational webinars featuring leading eDiscovery experts, live networking events in cities across the US, and celebrations of the eDiscovery community. More information is available at e-discoveryday.com.

About Exterro
Exterro empowers organizations to manage data risks with a complete platform for eDiscovery, data privacy, cybersecurity and governance, and digital forensics. Unlike any other software provider, Exterro makes it easy for organizations to understand their data and take swift action. Exterro's AI-driven solutions provide accurate, actionable insights, enabling businesses to support compliance efforts, reduce risks, and streamline operations while lowering costs. With Exterro, organizations gain the clarity and confidence needed to address their most critical data challenges. For more information, visit www.exterro.com.

Media Contact:
Hazel Ramirez Plat4orm hazel@plat4orm.com
Anamika Dhirendrakumar anamika.dhirendrakumar@exterro.com