As
Relativity
gears
up
for
RelativityFest,
the
Coachella
of
people
who
love
chain-of-custody
logs,
the
company
also
celebrates
an
anniversary
for
one
of
its
most
important
programs.
Turning
five
this
year,
Relativity’s
Justice
for
Change
initiative
brings
the
company’s
tools
to
a
wide
variety
of
social
justice
causes,
allowing
non-profits
struggling
against
wrongful
convictions
or
pushing
for
poor
children’s
access
to
health
care
the
same
tools
that
Fortune
100
companies
tap
into.
It’s
easy
to
get
cynical
about
corporate
justice
projects
these
days.
Many
a
social
justice
project
sprung
from
the
George
Floyd
murder
that
withered
under
the
heat
lamp
of
2025.
Even
law
firms,
who
have
professional
obligations
to
provide
public
service
work,
have
shrunk
from
the
task,
fleeing
critical
pro
bono
matters
to
stay
off
the
Trump
administration’s
radar.
Meanwhile,
Relativity
has
held
firm
with
its
commitment
and
even
expanded
the
scope
to
back
causes
across
Australia,
New
Zealand,
Canada,
and
the
EMEA
region.
Over
the
last
five
years,
Justice
for
Change
has
helped
out
90-plus
organizations,
supported
over
250
matters,
and
processed
some
16.2
million
documents.
“Relativity
tools
and
training
saved
us
precious
time
—
time
that
ultimately
amounted
to
fewer
days
in
prison
and
more
time
as
a
free
man
for
our
innocent
client,”
said
Barry
Scheck,
Co-Founder
and
Special
Counsel
at
the
Innocence
Project.
And
as
valuable
as
Relativity’s
tools
are
to
each
individual
matter,
some
of
its
most
impactful
accomplishments
come
from
being
able
to
see
a
bigger
picture
across
matters
that
human
lawyers
could
never
capture.
In
2022,
the
Georgia
Innocence
Project
explained
that
using
Relativity’s
tools
allowed
the
organization
to
analyze
the
records
from
thousands
of
cases
and
identify
bad
actors
cropping
up
across
the
data
—
essentially
flagging
jurisdictions
running
a
pre-crime
unit
straight
out
of
Minority
Report,
except
with
fewer
pre-cogs
and
more
“just
arresting
minorities.”
“Access
to
Relativity
was
a
game
changer
that
enabled
the
plaintiffs
to
marshal
evidence
for
expert
depositions,
prepare
for
summary
judgment,
and,
ultimately,
more
effectively
monitor
the
settlement
reached
after
vigorous
litigation,”
said
Geron
Gadd,
Senior
Attorney
at
the
National
Health
Law
Program.
“The
Justice
for
Change
program
is
critical
in
opening
the
courthouse
doors
to
low-income
litigants
with
disabilities
who,
without
access
to
the
technological
tools
of
modern
litigation,
would
be
substantially
disadvantaged
in
their
pursuit
of
justice.”
In
addition
to
RelativityOne
access
for
document
review,
Justice
for
Change
started
helping
non-profit
legal
organizations
embark
on
a
digital
revolution,
aiding
in
the
transition
from
paper-based
files
to
digital
workflows.
With
support
from
e-discovery
and
litigation
support
service
provider
Page
One,
the
program
helped
participants
digitize
decades’
worth
of
physical
case
files.
One
participant
in
the
project
reported
saving
approximately
$50,000
a
year
in
off-site
storage
costs
by
moving
to
digital.
That’s
money
that
can
go
directly
back
to
helping
people
instead
of
babysitting
a
basement
full
of
banker’s
boxes.
“The
past
five
years
have
laid
a
strong
foundation
for
what’s
possible
when
technology
and
purpose
align,
but
we
know
that
substantial
change
requires
continued
action
from
a
committed
community,”
said
Johnathan
Hill,
Global
Program
Manager
for
Social
Impact
and
Community
Engagement
Lead
at
Relativity.
“Many
organizations
working
on
the
front
lines
of
justice
continue
to
face
barriers,
whether
it’s
limited
funding,
outdated
systems
or
a
lack
of
access
to
scalable
technology.
Justice
for
Change
has
shown
that
with
the
right
team,
strategic
vision
and
a
willingness
to
listen
and
adapt,
commercial-grade
tools
can
be
used
to
serve
the
public
good
in
powerful
ways.”
As
CEO
Phil
Saunders
put
it,
Relativity
saw
early
that
“AI
and
advanced
legal
tech
solutions
could,
and
should,
be
used
for
good.”
After
half
a
decade,
the
receipts
are
undeniable:
exonerations,
successful
disability
rights
litigation,
and
civil
rights
victories
all
over
the
place.
All
because
the
company
took
the
tools
designed
for
bet-the-company
battles
and
turned
them
toward
people
who
need
legal
services
the
most.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
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Bluesky
if
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news.
Joe
also
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Managing
Director
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Executive
Search.