Relativity

What is Relativity?

Relativity is a legal data platform for e-discovery, investigations and compliance work, used to process, search and review documents at the scale of large lawsuits and regulatory requests. Its main cloud product was called RelativityOne until September 2026, when the company renamed it Relativity aiR.

Teams load emails, chats, files and other data into a matter workspace, then search, tag and review it before production. Generative AI modules sit on top of that workspace. aiR for Review predicts relevance and explains its reasoning with citations, aiR for Privilege supports privilege review, and aiR for Case Strategy builds chronologies, witness summaries and deposition outlines.

The company is based in Chicago and says it has served organisations from the AmLaw 200 to Fortune 500 firms for 25 years. Legal technology press names Phil Saunders as chief executive. Relativity is a software tool, not a law firm, so its AI output supports lawyers and does not count as legal advice. It is also unrelated to Relativity Space, the rocket company.

Key Features

Generative review with citations matters most, because aiR for Review lets legal teams cut first-pass review time while keeping a rationale for every call.

• aiR for Review: The module reads documents against instructions written in plain language and predicts relevance, issues and key documents. Each prediction comes with an explanation and citations, and Relativity cites an independent study reporting a 98 per cent cut in human review hours.
• aiR for Case Strategy: This tool pulls critical facts from a matter and drafts chronologies, witness summaries and deposition outlines. Litigators can move from raw productions to trial preparation material without building timelines entirely by hand.
• aiR for Privilege: Relativity bundles a privilege module alongside review and case strategy. It helps teams spot potentially privileged material before production, although a lawyer still makes the final privilege decision and drafts the log.
• aiR Assist and claiR: aiR Assist answers plain-language questions across datasets of up to 1.5 million documents, with cited answers. claiR, announced in August 2026, extends that to a whole matter and is reported to reach general availability in early 2027.
• Workflow modules: The platform covers e-discovery, investigations, contract review, data breach response, subject access requests, FOIA requests and antitrust second requests. Legal departments can therefore run several data-heavy processes inside one system.
• App Hub and Gavel: The App Hub offers custom applications that partners and customers build on top of the platform. Gavel, acquired in 2026 according to legal technology press, adds drafting and collaboration inside Microsoft Word.

Pros

Bundled AI is a strong reason to pick Relativity, since its pricing page says aiR for Review, Privilege and Case Strategy come at no additional cost.

• AI included in price: The pricing page states the three core aiR modules carry no extra charge. Legal teams avoid the per-document AI fees that can make generative review hard to budget on large matters.
• Proven at scale: Customer results on the site include Teneo processing one million documents in 18 days. Purpose Legal reports saving more than $70,000 on a review of over 300,000 documents.
• Defensible output: Every aiR prediction includes a rationale and citations to source text. Reviewers and opposing parties can test the reasoning, which supports quality control and court scrutiny.
• Strong security record: Relativity lists ISO 27001 and 27018, SOC 2 Type II, SOC 3 and HIPAA compliance. A FedRAMP Moderate version serves US government agencies with stricter requirements.
• Wide ecosystem: Many service providers and law firms build their practices on Relativity. Staff with Relativity skills are easy to hire, and partners such as Cimplifi, JND and KordaMentha publish results on the platform.

Cons

Opaque pricing is the first hurdle with Relativity, as the official site lists no figures and every quote needs a sales conversation.

• No public prices: The pricing page offers pay-as-you-go or one and three-year commitments but no figures. Smaller firms cannot compare costs without requesting a quote, which slows early evaluation.
• Steep learning curve: The platform has many modules, settings and workflows. New reviewers and administrators usually need formal training or a service provider before they run a review efficiently.
• Built for large matters: The product targets AmLaw firms, large corporations and government agencies. A sole practitioner with a small dispute may find the setup heavier than the case requires.
• Brand changes cause confusion: RelativityOne became Relativity aiR in September 2026, while the pricing page still used the old name. Buyers should confirm which product names appear on contracts and training material.
• AI still needs oversight: Generative predictions can miss context or misread documents. Lawyers must validate samples, check recall and own every production decision, so time savings depend on sound review protocols.

Who is Using Relativity?

Large law firms and corporate legal teams rely on Relativity most, and the site names users such as Baker McKenzie, Reed Smith, K&L Gates and Microsoft.

• Law firms: Litigation and investigations teams use it for document review and case preparation. Reed Smith reports savings of more than $2.3 million on the platform.
• Corporate legal departments: In-house teams use it for disputes, internal investigations and subject access requests. Microsoft projects $1.6 million in annual savings according to Relativity’s homepage.
• Litigation support providers: E-discovery vendors such as Purpose Legal and Cimplifi run client matters on it. They use aiR to speed first-pass review across very large datasets.
• Government agencies: Public bodies use the FedRAMP version for investigations and FOIA requests. It helps them process records requests within statutory deadlines.

Pricing

Relativity quotes every customer individually, with pay-as-you-go or one and three-year commitments and aiR modules included (official pricing page, October 2026).

No free trial or self-serve plan appeared on the official site, only demo and pricing request forms. Contract terms vary with data volume and term length, so ask for a written quote that lists hosting, processing and user charges separately.

What Makes Relativity Unique?

Bundling generative review into the base platform price is the sharpest difference, since many e-discovery rivals bill AI review per document or per gigabyte on top of hosting. That changes the cost case for using AI on first-pass review of large matters.

Relativity also reaches beyond litigation. The same workspace handles breach response, subject access requests, FOIA and second requests, and a Model Context Protocol connector lets outside AI assistants work with platform data.

Compatibilities and Integrations

Relativity runs in the browser as a cloud service and connects to wider tools through MCP, Microsoft Word and its App Hub.

• Platform: RelativityOne, now Relativity aiR, is a cloud service; a FedRAMP Moderate edition serves US government users.
• Model Context Protocol: An MCP connector lets external AI assistants such as Claude query platform data, according to Relativity and legal press.
• Data collection: The aiR page mentions collection from Claude Enterprise, ChatGPT Enterprise and Gemini workspaces.
• Microsoft Word: Gavel brings drafting and collaboration into Word for document work.
• App Hub: Partners and customers can add custom applications to extend standard workflows.

Relativity Tutorials

Most teams start with a guided demo and onboarding from Relativity or a certified partner rather than self-service setup.

1. Request a demo or pricing through relativity.com and agree a licensing model.
2. Create a workspace for the matter and set user roles and permissions.
3. Load and process the collected data, then run searches to cull obvious non-responsive material.
4. Write review instructions in plain language and run aiR for Review on a sample set.
5. Validate the sample against human decisions, refine the instructions, then apply them to the full set.
6. Use aiR for Case Strategy to build chronologies and witness summaries from the key documents.

How We Rated It

Relativity scores 4.1 out of 5, earned by deep functionality and strong security, with complexity and opaque pricing pulling it down.

Summary

Relativity is the right fit for law firms, corporate legal teams, service providers and agencies handling large, high-stakes document sets. Its bundled aiR modules give explainable review and case preparation without separate AI fees. The main limitation is accessibility, because pricing is quote-only and the platform takes training to use well. Treat AI output as support for legal judgement, not legal advice. Before signing, run a pilot on a closed matter and measure recall against your existing review results.