2025 Emerging Trends in Antitrust
Emerging Trends in Antitrust
Executive Summary
The antitrust landscape is shifting rapidly, and 2025 is shaping up to be another year of unpredictable regulation, evolving litigation trends, and complex data challenges. Legal teams must prepare for uncertainty—and take advantage of technology opportunities when they can.
Regulatory Overview
M&A activity rose significantly in 2024. The Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Annual Report won’t be issued by regulators until later in 2025, but preliminary data shows that 2,079 HSR transactions were filed in fiscal year (FY) 2024. That is a notable increase compared to the 1,805 filings in 2023. Here’s a look at the numbers over the last eight years, per the 2023 HSR Annual Report released in November 2024 and 2024 transaction numbers reported by the FTC:
These numbers offer insight into how regulatory scrutiny may evolve under the new presidential administration. From 2021 to 2023, regulators issued Second Requests on an average 1.8% of transactions. That average is notably lower than the incoming administration’s first term in office (2017 to 2020), when regulators issued Second Requests on an average 2.7% of deals.
In 2024, the DOJ and FTC also finalized significant changes to the HSR form, increasing document production requirements for companies involved in HSR transactions. Those rules went into effect on February 10th. In February, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson and Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed Assefi also confirmed that the 2023 Merger Guidelines finalized under the previous presidential administration would continue to serve as the framework for reviewing proposed mergers.
While it remains to be seen exactly how the FTC and DOJ will handle HSR deals in 2025, past trends indicate that companies should continue to prepare for regulatory scrutiny—especially for large deals in industries that have been focal points for the incoming administration i.e., big tech, pharmaceutical, healthcare, etc.
Private Antitrust Litigation Overview
Private antitrust litigation also appeared to be on the rise in 2024 and the stakes have never been higher. Out of 1,441 class action lawsuits analyzed in 2024, antitrust settlements were the second highest at $8.41 billion.
This means that legal teams overseeing M&A activity should also prepare for the possibility of private litigation—even if regulators clear the deal. Counsel should prepare early with data-driven arguments that can help them defend their deal during litigation.
What We Saw at Lighthouse in 2024
While we won’t know until later in 2025 how many Second Requests ultimately were issued by regulators last year, we can say that Lighthouse saw a significant uptick of Second Requests in 2024 compared to 2023—on top of numerous high-profile private antitrust cases.
One reason antitrust litigators turn to Lighthouse is because of our innovative use of AI to streamline complex antitrust matters. In 2024, we:
- Used generative AI to create accurate privilege logs in a fraction of the time compared to traditional methods
- Leveraged AI models to classify confidentiality, privilege, and personal information, helping review teams move faster and more effectively
- Integrated predictive linguistic models into traditional TAR workflows, increasing efficiency and accuracy
Looking Ahead
In this report, our antitrust experts share key insights from 2024 and provide a look at what’s on the horizon for 2025.
Outlooks from Lighthouse Experts
The year ahead will bring more regulatory unpredictability, rapid technological advancements, and increasingly complex data challenges.
In this section, Lighthouse experts share their insights on what legal teams can expect in the year ahead—from navigating shifting regulatory priorities to leveraging AI for more efficient reviews.
Outside
Counsel
Corporate Counsel
Artificial Intelligence
Data Governance, Preservation, and Collection
Managed Review
"Over the past year, we’ve seen the complexity of data involved in antitrust matters and Second Requests continue to increase. Because the data profile and data collection capabilities of corporations can vary significantly, it is essential that outside counsel allocate time at the beginning of antitrust matters to gain a comprehensive understanding of the types of data at issue, the collection capabilities available, and the eDiscovery workflows that align with those considerations.
Effective preparation will help outside counsel hit the ground running, which is essential in fast-paced M&A matters."
Michael Recker
Executive Director, Customer Experience
"In 2024, datasets in antitrust matters grew more complex—with emerging modern, collaboration, and cloud-based data introducing new challenges for corporate counsel. To ensure a successful deal, it’s imperative that in-house counsel understand these issues in relation to their company’s data landscape. This work includes identifying key custodians early so that you’re prepared in the event of a regulatory request or antitrust litigation. Counsel should also have a plan in place for data migration post-acquisition to avoid the potential risks to the company (including data loss, compatibility issues, and security breaches).
Finally, in-house counsel should focus on choosing the right partners. We’ve seen that the most successful in-house counsel teams in M&A matters benefit from outside counsel and eDiscovery partners who have in-depth M&A experience on staff and the technology capabilities required to manage modern data complexities."
Sarah Barsky
Executive Director, Customer Experience
"In 2024, AI adoption expanded beyond responsiveness and privilege review to complex, labor-intensive tasks like privilege log generation and name legend creation. These advanced solutions are having a major impact, helping case teams manage the growing scale and diversity of M&A data.
AI is also making strides in image identification, which has historically been reliant on manual review. Teams are using AI for an initial pass to flag images needing further human review, delivering significant cost and labor savings in antitrust matters.
While AI adoption is still in its earliest stages, momentum is building as more of the market experiences its concrete benefits in antitrust—giving innovative counsel a clear advantage over those relying on traditional methods."
Lon Troyer
Vice President, Review & Advanced Analytics
“Regulatory scrutiny over how companies manage communications data has intensified in 2025, driven by evolving enforcement priorities and high-profile antitrust cases. This scrutiny extends to both supported applications—those hosted and provisioned by the company (e.g., M365, Google Workspace, Slack)—and unsupported applications (including third-party apps on company-issued or personally managed devices). Recent enforcement actions have reinforced that companies are obligated to preserve relevant data for investigations or litigation, with failure to do so resulting in significant legal and financial consequences. The ability to retain, preserve, and collect this data hinges on myriad factors, including internal policies and procedures (such as those around acceptable use of company systems), as well as the individual system’s technical capabilities and specific configurations.
To ensure timely and defensible data preservation and collection—especially in the context of Second Requests—it’s critical to either possess an understanding of these complex data environments or collaborate with experts who do. The need for this type of expertise will only increase as the complexity around data handling, maintenance, and use continues to manifest.”
Jamie Brown
Vice President, Lighthouse Strategic Advisor
"This past year was an exciting year for managed review in antitrust matters! We saw impactful synergies from combining AI and analytics with specialized attorney review workstreams, enabling more strategic reviewer deployment for datasets needing eyes-on review or validation. This led to faster completion times and critical deal insights for antitrust counsel. Collaboration between GenAI experts and experienced reviewers accelerated progress, reducing hours spent on privilege reviews and logging. Counsel gained time to focus on nuanced decisions and refine privilege logs instead of creating them from scratch—a novelty in fast-paced M&A matters.
In 2025, this evolution will continue as we integrate reviewer insights back into the technology to improve processes around missed privilege and review inconsistencies. Closing the loop with high-quality reviewer results will optimize team sizing and enhance accuracy, consistency, and cost efficiency—giving counsel even more time to focus on closing deals."
Mary Newman
Executive Director, Managed Review
Advancements in AI
Advancements in AI have evolved how legal teams approach antitrust matters, driving faster speed to knowledge, enhancing TAR workflows, and streamlining privilege reviews in both Second Requests and antitrust litigation. Legal teams that embraced these innovations saw measurable benefits—including improved review accuracy, quicker case insights, and stronger outcomes.
In this section, our experts share how advancements in AI are reshaping antitrust strategies, what’s on the horizon for AI-driven discovery, and how legal teams can take advantage.
Using AI to Boost TAR Workflows
New Developments in Generative AI
Advantages of a Partnership Approach to AI
“Efficiency is paramount in Second Requests. By integrating advanced linguistic modeling into TAR workflows and leveraging generative AI, we are achieving efficiencies and accuracy unimaginable just two years ago. Linguistic modeling helps counsel identify relevant documents faster in Second Requests, leading to quicker stabilization. For privilege review, tailored linguistic models can exclude hundreds of thousands of documents compared to traditional STR hit reviews. Generative AI then streamlines privilege log creation. This process has saved innovative counsel hundreds of hours in Second Requests and other antitrust matters.
In 2025, we expect more antitrust counsel to adopt generative AI for image analysis, helping legal teams review and assess large image datasets that traditional TAR can’t effectively handle.”
Aaron Boone
Senior Consultant, AI & Analytics
"This past year was not just the year of generative AI for privilege log descriptions in antitrust matters. It was also the year we reinvented image review. We leveraged the new generation of multi-model large language models to richly caption and thematically analyze documents previously untouched by technologically assisted review workflows.
In 2025, we expect generative AI impact on antitrust matters to grow through a suite of new review accelerators that enable case teams to better pinpoint and redact sensitive information. Review for personally identifying information (PII), trade secret protected data, and a broader set of privileged information (including bank examiner’s privilege for the financial sector) will now be facilitated by tools built with state-of-the-art generative AI models and techniques."
Fernando Delgado
Senior Director, AI & Analytics
"In 2024, we successfully leveraged generative modeling to enhance the speed and reduce the burden of large image set analysis in Second Requests and antitrust matters. Our GenAI also delivered highly accurate privilege log line entries, greatly reducing privilege log costs.
This type of continuous improvement of AI solutions tailored to antitrust matters doesn’t just happen organically. It is only through close collaboration with legal teams that we have been able to incubate and optimize generative AI applications to reduce the burden on counsel in complex antitrust matters. Our AI consultants and engineers partner closely with legal teams in a very intentional and deliberate way, with each side bringing their expertise to the table. That partnership approach is how we’ve achieved exceptional results with AI. It’s the reason this all works."
Cody Betush
Managing Engineer, AI & Analytics
Preparing for M&A Activity
With a new administration and shifting economic conditions in 2025, legal teams face heightened pressure to prepare early for potential regulatory scrutiny and litigation tied to M&A activity. They must also anticipate the complex data challenges that arise during acquisitions and divestures—particularly around cloud environments, post-deal data migrations, and the management of modern data sources.
In this section, Lighthouse experts highlight key considerations to help legal teams proactively address these challenges, minimize risk, and ensure smooth, defensible data handling throughout the M&A lifecycle.
Managing Cloud Environments in M&A
Planning for Post-Acquisition Data Migration
Navigating Modern Data
"Preparation is critical for M&A, especially for companies using cloud platforms like Microsoft 365 (M365) and Google Workspace (G-Suite). Key risks include data security, compliance, and seamless data transition. In 2024, we helped organizations prepare for M&A activity by strengthening information governance, eDiscovery, and data protection programs to reduce risk, identify key data, and ensure proper retention, protection, and disposal.
Advanced eDiscovery tools in M365 and Google Workspace can streamline data collection, review, and production. We’ve seen that legal teams who are adept at managing these tools significantly reduce the risk of missing critical information—and the associated risk of sanctions or adverse inferences in antitrust matters.
We’ve also seen that in-house counsel who conduct regular audits and readiness assessments of cloud platforms are better equipped to anticipate challenges, ensuring defensible data handling throughout the M&A lifecycle."
John Collins
Executive Director, Information Governance
"Organizations involved in acquisitions or divestitures have a responsibility to defensibly migrate data at scale. In 2024, we observed an increase in tenant-to-tenant email migrations that left behind critical data, particularly Microsoft Teams message content.
Both in-house and outside counsel need to be proactive during the M&A process to ensure data under legal hold is not put in jeopardy. An incomplete data migration can have significant legal ramifications. It is crucial for corporate counsel to work with technology experts, assess industry software platforms, and develop a comprehensive migration plan. To properly mitigate risks, this should be done ahead of M&A activity."
Noah Koerner
Associate Director, Information Governance
"In 2024, antitrust regulators and opposing counsel focused on modern data sources like collaboration tools, cloud platforms, and mobile data. Regulators in Second Requests also took a more aggressive stance on platform licensing that enables certain collection and production capabilities. 2025 will likely bring regulatory demands to upgrade custodian accounts to premium licenses for platforms like Microsoft Purview.
Legal teams preparing for M&A activity must understand the organization’s data landscape—including ensuring there are clear, consistently enforced policies for mobile device management and BYOD. It’s vital to understand how employees use personal devices to communicate and have strategies to secure personal content while enabling business-related data analysis and production. Recent advances in contact filtering and AI-based image analysis can help.
Managing AI-generated artifacts will also be critical in 2025, including learning how users interact with AI and how artifacts are created, preserved, stored, and exported."
Nick Schreiner
Vice President, Client Success
Top Challenges in Second Requests
In 2024, regulators maintained a sharp focus on industries like tech, healthcare, and finance—driving heightened scrutiny that is expected to continue under the new presidential administration. Legal teams will also continue to face ongoing challenges with complex, high-volume datasets and tighter deadlines in Second Requests.
In this section, Lighthouse antitrust experts share key insights on navigating these evolving demands, from handling modern attachments to optimizing review workflows for substantial compliance.
Understanding Cloud Attachments in M365
Finding the Documents Regulators Care About
Tracking Collected Data
Optimizing Review for Speed and Precision
"In 2024, regulators increasingly pushed for the collection of cloud attachments in Second Requests. They often required attachments to be linked to the emails or messages containing the original hyperlink at the point of production and have been more aggressive about seeking contemporaneous versions. Organizations with Microsoft 365 E5 and eDiscovery Premium can export cloud attachments en masse and maintain these associations. However, most organizations can only produce the current version of files.
In 2023, Microsoft introduced an auto-label retention feature for cloud attachments that enables contemporaneous version capture. But enabling this feature raises many non-discovery business considerations and applies only prospectively. Therefore, when handling a Second Request, counsel must ensure regulators understand Microsoft’s capabilities, clarify when only current versions are available for mass exports, and apply proper branding and metadata to avoid misrepresenting a file’s version status."
Alison Shier
Vice President, Client Success
"In 2024, two key trends created challenges in identifying key documents during Second Requests.
First, case teams adopted a more expansive view of responsiveness due to impending new production obligations imposed by regulators. Many of the additional documents identified as “responsive” solely due to the updated guidance were not better documents to defend the deal—leading to higher volumes of unnecessary materials being escalated for case team review. To overcome this, Lighthouse data analysis experts used an advanced analytics platform to separate the wheat from the chaff, isolating documents that best captured key topics—saving time and money.
Second, regulators increased focus on mobile and chat data. These communications are often more candid but less formal, making them valuable to regulators but challenging for case teams. Standard AI models struggle with the nuances of these channels and case teams often miss critical cross-channel communications (e.g., individuals switching from email to chat to talk about the same subject) in traditional TAR workflows. We combined rules-based approaches, linguistic and discourse analysis, and machine learning to identify critical cross-channel communications, ensuring case teams found the documents that truly mattered."
Eric Pender
Senior Director, Engagement Management
"With the expanded rule requirements for transaction-related documents for FTC filings going into effect, we expect to encounter even larger and more complex data collection sources. Given the time-sensitive nature of compliance filings and their many moving parts, early adoption of accurate data collection and tracking is critical to avoid costly upstream audits.
We’ve found that tracking these details and maintaining a consistent report delivery cadence is an effective strategy to aid counsel and clients in making informed decisions, identifying collection gaps early, and tracking data throughout its life cycle. Consistently and proactively providing comprehensive information to counsel minimizes the risk of misrepresenting collection sources. Large data volumes are here to stay, and it's only getting bigger and messier. Ignoring it isn't an option. Outside counsel should insist that eDiscovery providers manage data tracking effectively and efficiently, ensuring both defensibility and accuracy."
Kamika Brown
Associate Director, Customer Experience
"This year, we’ve consistently delivered efficient Second Request document reviews by building AI models that significantly reduce the volume of files requiring eyes-on review. However, challenges remain—including the unpredictability of model stabilization and delays in confirming the final review universe. A key issue is timing—especially in fast-paced Second Requests. It’s critical to engage the right review resources at the right moment, ensure efficient onboarding, quickly ramp up for maximum throughput and quality, and maintain engagement throughout the project.
Successfully tackling these challenges requires more than a deep understanding of review tasks and review skillsets; it also demands expert insight into how project dynamics (including team roles, technologies, timelines, and data flow) will impact review timing and readiness. Strong communication between all teams involved is critical to align review staffing with project needs and avoid downtime and attrition.
This approach ensures that with each new review, review teams can build off past experiences and help refine processes, technology, communications, and handoffs."
Lori Steidl
Senior Director, Review Management
Top Challenges in Private Antitrust Litigation
In 2024, we saw a surge in private antitrust litigation. At the same time, legal teams faced growing challenges from skyrocketing data volumes, complex modern data sources, and evolving production obligations. As we move into 2025, effective data management, rapid fact-finding, and tech-enabled review strategies will be critical for navigating these complexities.
In this section, Lighthouse antitrust experts share insights on the key litigation trends and challenges shaping the year ahead.
Handling Metadata Challenges
Effective Fact-Finding and Early Case Assessment
Integrating AI for Faster Workflows
"In 2024, data types continued to evolve. New data sources often don’t fit the existing mold for metadata. This can cause significant workflow challenges in antitrust—from searching, to TAR models, to production requirements—if teams aren’t careful. It is critical that custodian interviews address all programs used for business purposes (Google—and sometimes Slack data—has its own unique set of fields; mobile phones are used for more than just messaging, etc.).
Once collected, case teams need to assess each data type to identify how metadata lines up with traditional fields. Are there new fields that need to be included for searching or added to production specs in the ESI protocol? Are elements of the data causing documents to be excluded from TAR models? Legal teams should ask and analyze these questions to ensure all data types are handled as expected during antitrust litigation."
Gillian Smith
Senior Director, Customer Experience
"Early identification of key documents is crucial in antitrust matters. But the process is often challenged by large data volumes and difficulty isolating the key documents that are damaging or beneficial to case team strategy. Traditional search methods are often both underinclusive and overinclusive—wasting critical time for counsel yet still missing the documents counsel needs to see.
We’ve addressed this by employing specialized teams of search experts leveraging purpose-built search technology. Case teams can rely on an experienced search team that requires minimal direction, can independently spot documents that matter, and can quickly integrate case team feedback. This allows counsel to focus on litigation strategy, rather than the minutiae of document review.
In 2025, we’re enhancing our search technology in these workflows with generative AI to boost efficiency. It will help summarize key documents, create chronologies, and produce critical deliverables faster, enabling us to provide even stronger support to case teams handling private antitrust litigation."
Jeff Grobart
Senior Director, Engagement Management
"With the rapid influx of AI, antitrust teams now face a complex landscape of new tools. When selected without a strategic approach, the full potential of AI often goes unrealized. Skilled review consultants can make sure that the right AI tools are selected—and then map and implement those tools within optimized review workflows that complement and enhance their capabilities to meet case team goals.
For example, in a recent multibillion-dollar antitrust litigation, our experts deployed a strategic workflow that combined AI and human review across a dataset of over half a million files. Advanced linguistic models were used to tackle key challenges such as classifying confidentiality levels, identifying critical agreements, and surfacing strategic documents. In turn, the review team could move twice as fast and focus on the discrete tasks requiring human nuance. This approach enabled counsel to meet a very aggressive production deadline while significantly reducing costs—key goals for their client."
Cassie Blum
Senior Director, Review Consulting
Meet the Lighthouse Antitrust Experts
Key Document Identification
Assess risk and develop your case faster with services including fact analysis and deposition preparation. Learn more
Key Word Consultation
Identify strategic, nuanced search terms that can reduce review volumes up to 99 percent more than conventional ones.
Data Reduction
Cull more intensively using normalized deduplication and junk filters, resulting in typical reductions of 5-10 percent.
Responsive Review
Produce only what’s responsive with a process that typically hits precision and recall levels exceeding 80 percent. Learn more
Privilege Identification
Bolster privilege terms and QC with a supercharged model that can be tailored on your past matters.
Sensitive Data Classification
Find and mitigate inadvertent production of PII/PHI, toxic language, confidential information, and more.
Sarah Barsky
Sarah is an Executive Director in Lighthouse’s Customer Experience Group. In this role, she supervises client delivery by the industry-leading Lighthouse Project Managers, collaborates with cross-functional Lighthouse teams to drive solutions that meet client needs, and monitors overall project management activities across Lighthouse to ensure consistency in approach, structure, and best practices. She also manages Lighthouse’s overall strategic partnership with top client organizations and law firms, acting as their Lighthouse advocate. In her role as Executive Director, Sarah also leads company-wide initiatives to onboard new technology and improve the overall client experience.
Sarah is an industry veteran who has overseen hundreds of large-scale eDiscovery projects—including high-profile Second Requests and complex M&A litigation. Her 19+ year career includes positions at Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP prior to joining the company. Sarah received her BA from New York University.
Cody Betush
Cody Betush is the Managing Engineer in Lighthouse’s AI & Analytics group. This group leads the design and deployment of predictive and generative AI solutions.
With 12 years of eDiscovery experience and 15 years in the legal industry, Cody specializes in antitrust, advanced analytics, predictive AI, generative AI, and structured analytics. He oversees the development and implementation of innovative features, ensuring alignment with client needs and industry standards.
Cody holds a BS in Finance from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania and a JD from Cooley Law School.
Cassie Blum
Cassie is a Senior Director of Review Consulting at Lighthouse. She has over 17 years of eDiscovery experience spanning the EDRM as an attorney with leadership roles in document review, project management, and consulting. She has extensive experience supporting global financial services, technology, and pharmaceutical clients with workflow consultation and review management, including early case assessment, complex data repository matters, multi-district litigation (MDLs), and Second Requests.
In her current role, Cassie oversees a team of consultants who advise on complex workflows and implement AI-enabled document review, leveraging best practices, leading technologies, and Lighthouse offerings to reduce cost and streamline review. Cassie also advises on and develops Lighthouse process standards and best practices, along with steering new product development and implementation.
Cassie received her JD from Saint Louis University School of Law and is licensed to practice in Missouri.
Aaron Boone
Aaron is a Senior Consultant in Lighthouse’s AI and Analytics group. Aaron leads a group of team members that focus on Second Requests.
Aaron is an attorney with 14 years of industry experience. Prior to coming to Lighthouse, he worked for 11 years at Business Intelligence Associates earning the position of Director of Advanced Analytics.
Jamie Brown
As the Vice President of Strategic Consulting Services, Jamie is responsible for leading and managing Lighthouse’s global consulting practice. She also advises clients, particularly those in heavily regulated industries, on legal and regulatory risk-mitigation strategies in connection with digital transformation, data remediation, and litigation/investigation readiness and response.
A former regulator, law firm partner, and in-house counsel, Jamie brings more than twenty years of experience leading and litigating complex matters involving technology and information in federal and state courts and responding to investigatory demands brought by the US Department of Justice, and United States and foreign regulatory bodies. She specializes in information law, pre-trial strategies, cross-border investigations, eDiscovery, and data protection.
Jamie has wide-ranging experience across corporate, government, and private practice, including:
- At UBS, as the Executive Director and Global eDiscovery Counsel responsible for designing, implementing, and managing a centralized litigation and investigations response program to support the firm’s litigation and investigation matters worldwide.
- At Barclays, leading and implementing a global program to reduce legal, regulatory, and privacy risk associated with legacy systems and data. The program included significant cross-functional alignment with divisions outside of legal on related privacy, information technology, risk, and compliance issues.
- A trial attorney and then Assistant General Counsel and Head of eDiscovery in the Division of Enforcement at the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission in Washington, DC. Here, she advised more than 250 enforcement attorneys on investigation techniques, strategies, and protocols on cases with global prominence.
- A litigation partner at Fennemore Craig in Phoenix, Arizona.
- A litigation and government investigations associate at King and Spalding in Washington, DC.
Jamie has testified in federal court and has qualified as an eDiscovery expert. In her corporate and government roles, she served as an FRCP 30(b)(6) designee for formal and informal testimony, and regularly interfaced with regulators and Congress on eDiscovery strategy and internal practices. Independently, Jamie has advised corporate legal departments on how to altogether avoid litigation and regulatory scrutiny on technology issues.
Kamika Brown
Kamika is an Associate Director in Lighthouse’s Customer Experience Group. She provides overall leadership and management to Lighthouse project management teams, ensures project management consistency across all of a client’s matters, and serves as an eDiscovery workflow expert to top Lighthouse clients. She has extensive experience with antitrust and Second Request matters, working in partnership with some of the world’s most renowned antitrust law firms.
Kamika has been working in the eDiscovery space since 2008. Prior to joining Lighthouse, she worked as a Senior Project Manager for an eDiscovery service provider where she was primarily responsible for day-to-day management of custodian collections, data processing and analysis, review, production, and process improvement for a large banking client with multiple class-action cases, internal and governmental investigations—including antitrust and Second Requests. Before that, she spent five years working as an eDiscovery Project Manager supporting multiple large corporate clients and their counsel. Kamika holds a BS in Communication Studies from Arizona State University.
John Collins
John is Executive Director of Lighthouse’s Information Governance team and leads the global delivery team. John brings more than 20 years of legal, regulatory, and consulting experience to this role, having advised organizations and law firms on an array of information governance, litigation readiness, and records and information management challenges, including those that involve the use and implementation of cloud technologies.
For the past eight years, John has developed a niche practice in Microsoft 365 (M365) consulting and, specifically, advising clients on how to adopt, adapt, and collect M365 and M365 data to meet legal, compliance, and regulatory requirements (including antitrust and Second Request regulatory requirements).
John’s experience designing and implementing solutions that leverage and account for cloud technologies and changing behaviors has provided him with a unique perspective with which he now views digital transformation efforts. He is a leading authority in M365 implementation, and his focus is on designing solutions that are compliant, legally defensible, practical, and agile, so as to accommodate future change.
John has served as a consulting expert in connection with pending litigation and Second Requests, advising on risk and exposure related to technology and information and in advance of FRCP 26(f) conferences and FRCP 30(b)(6) depositions, and includes preparing other experts for testimony. Common topics include the configuration, operability, and use of specific systems.
Fernando Delgado, PhD
Fernando Delgado, PhD, is the Senior Director of Lighthouse’s AI & Analytics group. In this role, Fernando is responsible for the design and implementation of Lighthouse proprietary solutions across the areas of structured analytics, predictive AI, and generative AI.
He is an expert in legal AI with over 19 years of experience in the legal technology sector. A veteran eDiscovery technologist, Fernando has pioneered multiple technology-forward solutions and services at Lighthouse—particularly in the realm of antitrust, including solutions for targeted fact-finding and key documentation identification, cross-matter analysis for strategic work-product re-use, and Gen AI subject matter descriptions for privilege logs.
Fernando holds a PhD in Information Science from Cornell University.
Jeff Grobart
Jeff is a Senior Director in Lighthouse’s Engagement Management group. With over 25 years of experience providing consultation for clients across the entire EDRM, Jeff provides clear direction for complex electronic discovery matters—from initial consultation and workflow design through production. He is also a leading practitioner in the use of AI and statistical validation to better manage review and production needs. Jeff also has extensive experience interacting with various governmental agencies in antitrust matters, including negotiations relating to the acceptance of TAR protocols.
Prior to joining Lighthouse, Jeff served as a leading consultant with FTI Consulting and TrialGraphix and spent time with Sidley Austin’s litigation support team. Jeff holds a BS in Political Science from Northern Illinois University and an MS in Data Science from Northwestern University.
Noah Koerner
Noah is an Associate Director of Information Governance at Lighthouse. He began his career at Nuix in 2012, where he held a variety of technical roles in analysis, software development and special project delivery, including management of the Nuix migration team. Prior to joining Lighthouse in 2017, Noah also worked for Citigroup where he led a global effort to roll out a new in-house data retrieval service for internal investigations.
In his current role, Noah manages the Information Governance delivery team focused on Microsoft Purview eDiscovery, records information and management, and data migration service areas—including post-acquisition and divesture migrations. His unique experience enables Noah to partner with large clients across all industries, delivering key results on critical projects in the enterprise compliance space.
Mary Newman
Mary is the Executive Director of Managed Review at Lighthouse. She has over 20 years of eDiscovery experience with a deep focus on innovation in managed review. Mary enjoys working with her clients and colleagues to provide cost containment opportunities for both AI/technology-enhanced and human linear review to solve ever-changing industry challenges.
In her current role, Mary oversees the global Managed Review function, leading teams providing customized matter strategy, substantive review accelerators, and workflow drivers across every type of matter—from small internal investigations to complex Second Requests, to large multidistrict litigation. Mary also leads Lighthouse’s preferred vendor partner program and provides oversight for continual quality outputs from our certified partners.
Mary received her JD from New York Law School and is licensed to practice in New Jersey.
Eric Pender
Eric is a Senior Director of Engagement Management at Lighthouse. As an expert in eDiscovery and legal analytics, he advises organizations on how to solve complex data review and analysis challenges.
Eric specializes in eDiscovery and information governance across highly regulated industries, including finance, healthcare, and pharmaceutical. He is a seasoned leader in data discovery, risk management, and predictive modeling, known for his ability to marshal resources effectively and oversee complex Second Requests and multi-jurisdictional projects with budgets exceeding $25 million annually.
Eric is recognized for leading high-impact projects that leverage Lighthouse’s expertise in linguistics and information retrieval. He regularly leads projects for clients to reduce review populations to a manageable size using effective keyword strategies, predictive modeling, and swift and cost-effective retrieval processes that combine technology and linguistic expertise.
He has assisted heavily regulated organizations in using predictive modeling to meet their data retention obligations, thereby identifying data safe for disposal. His experience also includes standardizing best practices for eDiscovery via corporate playbooks and aiding the inception of in-house eDiscovery teams.
Eric is an innovative leader at the intersection of law and technology, adept at helping clients navigate through large and highly complex matters. He collaborates with clients to select the “right tools in the toolkit” to empower clients with cost-effective and results-oriented solutions.
Eric holds a JD from Michigan State University.
Michael Recker
Michael is an Executive Director of Lighthouse’s Customer Experience Group. He brings more than 19 years of eDiscovery experience and has an extensive background leading large complex matters—including in-depth experience handling complex antitrust and Second Requests—as well as large scale data migrations, managing large client service teams, and creating and streamlining eDiscovery workflows and processes.
In his role at Lighthouse, Michael is responsible for providing best-in-class service to Lighthouse clients by working collaboratively with cross-functional Lighthouse teams, driving solutions that meet client needs, and ensuring consistency in approach, structure, and best practices. Additionally, he is a key stakeholder for company-wide initiatives to develop workflows for complex and evolving data types and onboard/integrate new technology.
Prior to joining Lighthouse, Michael served as Director of Data Analytics at the Clutch Group where he oversaw the eDiscovery Operations and Project Management team, and as Director of Client Solutions at Applied Discovery where he oversaw their Project Management team.
Nick Schreiner
Nick is a Vice President in Lighthouse’s Client Success Management group. He has over 18 years of experience in the legal technology industry spanning product management, operations, service delivery, and sales. In his current role, Nick leads a Client Success team responsible for facilitating strategic alignment across Lighthouse personnel, our clients, and their partner network. Since joining Lighthouse in 2017, Nick has been involved in over 30 Second Requests—providing clients with deep expertise in managing the complexities of antitrust investigations and regulatory compliance.
Nick is responsible for the design and implementation of program-level eDiscovery solutions, with a focus on data reduction, intelligent solution integration, and impact reporting.
Alison Shier
Alison is a Vice President in Lighthouse’s Client Success Management group. She is a seasoned eDiscovery professional with a career spanning almost 15 years. Alison began in Arnold & Porter’s antitrust group where she managed day-to-day eDiscovery for complex DOJ and FTC second requests and antitrust litigation. After leaving the firm, she went on to work for a global eDiscovery provider. Within two years, she became one of ten National Account Directors. In this capacity, Alison was responsible for overseeing delivery for one of the largest global financial institutions and was charged with building and refining their eDiscovery program and playbook.
Alison has spent the last nine years at Lighthouse, where she is responsible for building custom eDiscovery and information governance programs that mitigate risk and drive ROI for the world’s largest companies and law firms. With an in-depth knowledge of her clients’ specific needs and deep eDiscovery and information governance expertise, Alison builds eDiscovery programs that drive efficiency, lower costs, and reduce risk. Her expertise includes everything from M365 implementation, to building better legal hold systems, to implementing forensic collection solutions, to integrating of AI and analytics for better, faster doc review.
Alison boasts a roster of longstanding partnerships with some of the world’s most prolific corporations and law firms—including the largest company in the world by revenue, the largest telecommunication company in the US, the world’s largest provider of mobile telephone services, and one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies.
In recent years, Alison has gained an industry reputation for building and deploying innovative eDiscovery programs in record time that help leading emerging technology companies with high profile litigation portfolios mitigate risk. She is particularly adept at integrating Lighthouse’s leading predictive and generative AI-based solutions to help clients gain efficiency. In the past two years alone, Alison launched Lighthouse’s partnership with the world’s leading AI research and development company, the world's fourth largest conglomerate, and the world’s biggest streaming service.
Alison graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Michigan with a degree in organizational management and consulting.
Gillian Smith
Gillian is a Senior Director in Lighthouse’s Customer Experience Group. In this role, Gillian oversees teams of eDiscovery project managers who manage Lighthouse’s high profile corporate and law firm clients. Under Gillian’s leadership, her project management teams create robust workflows to support engagements of all sizes, creating a broad scalable team that can flex to support small scale internal investigations to the largest multi-district litigation (MDLs). Gillian also serves as a trusted advisor to Lighthouse enterprise clients, driving consistency and centralization across matters, advocating for their goals, and managing program costs.
Over the last twenty years, she has supported corporate and law firm clients across all industries and all phases of the eDiscovery life cycle. Her experience includes supporting numerous Second Requests and antitrust engagements, MDLs, and large-scale joint defense class actions. In her role at Lighthouse, she uses this experience to create programs for clients in the pharmaceutical, agricultural, defense, and financial services industries that leverage both advanced technology solutions and best practices tailored to their unique needs.
Prior to Lighthouse, Gillian lead project management teams in both the US and India at a global eDiscovery provider and managed all eDiscovery needs for a mid-sized law firm in Philadelphia. She has a BS from Drew University, and a MS from the University of Pennsylvania.
Lori Steidl
Lori is the Senior Director of Lighthouse Review Management. In this role, she leads a team of licensed attorneys who consult on review project planning, advise on the use of technology and optimized workflow strategies to drive down costs and improve the speed and accuracy of review, and direct the work of contractor review teams.
Lori is an attorney with over 25 years of experience in eDiscovery. She has extensive experience planning and managing discovery projects through all stages of the EDRM for matters of all sizes and levels of complexity—from small investigations to the large, complex Second Requests. In addition to case-specific consultation, Lori also consults with her clients to establish enterprise-level review strategies, workflows, and best practices.
Before joining Lighthouse, Lori worked for 20 years as a Staff Attorney in the eDiscovery practice group at a large law firm where she served as eDiscovery counsel for clients in the financial, technology, and telecommunications sectors. Lori holds a JD from the University of Washington and is licensed to practice in the state of Washington.
Lon Troyer
Dr. Lon Troyer is Vice President of Review and Advanced Analytics at Lighthouse. In this role, he oversees the application of AI, analytics, search, and information retrieval expertise to implement solutions to clients' litigation and regulatory compliance challenges. His teams specialize in leveraging artificial intelligence and search technologies as well as extensive investigative experience to scope, design, and implement innovative technology-enabled review solutions for clients throughout the data lifecycle.
Drawing on his diverse background in technology-assisted review, linguistic modeling, advanced information retrieval strategies, and solution design, Lon leads the teams that provide Lighthouse's full suite of review solutions.
Lon has extensive experience working domestically and internationally on dozens of high-stakes matters in a wide variety of industries, including Second Request investigations, private antitrust litigation, class actions, IP, product liability, and other types of litigation—as well as internal and government investigations.
Prior to joining Lighthouse, Lon was the Executive Managing Director and Head of Professional Services at H5, taught constitutional law in graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley, and gained practical experience in corporate law at Sidley Austin LLP. Lon received his undergraduate degree at Williams College and his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley.
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