ILTA Awards

T R A I L B L A Z E R O F T H E Y E A R / Finalist G Gowling WLG + Infodash owling partnered with Infodash to transform one of Canada's most extensive and targeted knowledge repositories into an AI-powered litigation intelligence p l a t f o r m . T h e p r o j e c t m o d e r n i z e d G o w l i n g 's longstanding library of client-specific litigation materials, which houses hundreds of thousands of pleadings, expert reports, judicial decisions, settlements, and internal legal knowledge assets developed over decades of litigation experience. Previously, this vast repository existed within an aging database environment that limited scalability, advanced search functionality, and analytical capabilities. Gowling sought not only to modernize the system, but also to unlock the predictive and strategic value hidden within its highly curated legal data. The firm needed a secure, scalable platform capable of supporting advanced AI-driven legal research while preserving strict governance, client confidentiality, and matter-level permission controls. Working closely together, Gowling and Infodash approached the initiative as a fully integrated partnership rather than a traditional vendor engagement. Gowling contributed deep subject matter expertise and a clear vision for the future of targeted litigation research, while Infodash provided advanced technical capabilities in Microsoft 365, SharePoint architecture, and applied AI within highly governed legal environments. The teams collaborated continuously to co-design workflows, validate AI outputs, and refine the user experience in real time. The resulting platform is a cloud-based SharePoint solution e n h a n ce d w i t h A I - p owe re d i n d ex i n g , s e m a nt i c s e a rc h , and vectorization capabilities. This enables lawyers to ask sophisticated natural language questions across hundreds of thousands of data points and receive security-trimmed, citation-backed responses grounded in historical case data. The system delivers contextual summaries, cross-matter insights, and document-level references that significantly improve research precision and litigation strategy development. Managing risk was central to the project's success. Dedicated project managers from both organizations met multiple times per week to monitor progress, track risks, and maintain alignment through a shared Issues, Actions, and Risks log. One of the project's greatest challenges involved designing a future- state data architecture capable of handling highly complex taxonomy and metadata requirements across large volumes of structured and unstructured legal content. To address this, the team worked directly within Gowling's production environment, enabling close collaboration with legal subject matter experts and ensuring accurate classification and governance from the outset. Another critical focus was ensuring that all AI-generated responses fully respected user permissions and security requirements. By embedding security trimming directly into the AI architecture early in development, the team ensured the platform aligned with the rigorous confidentiality standards expected in legal practice. The project ultimately transformed a legacy database into a next-generation AI intelligence engine, positioning Gowling WLG at the forefront of litigation innovation in Canada while establishing a scalable foundation for future legal analytics and strategic insight. PROJECT Modernizing Litigation Intelligence Gowling needed to modernize a client-specific litigation knowledge repository into a secure, AI-powered platform capable of advanced legal research, analytics, and predictive insight. ILTA AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE 2026 5 6

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