As we close the doors on 2025, it’s interesting to look back at how the “machinery” of the legal world has evolved. At Legal Document Server, we’ve spent the year watching the industry move from a place of “digital curiosity” to “digital necessity.” Much like the shift from conventional television to podcasts, the litigation support industry has reached a tipping point where technology is no longer an add-on—it is the foundation.

In 2025, we saw three major pillars of litigation support—eFiling, Process Serving, and Case Management—converge in ways that have permanently altered the attorney’s workflow.

1. eFiling: From Convenience to Mandate The “wild west” of county-by-county filing rules began to settle this year. In California alone, we saw a massive expansion of mandatory eFiling, particularly in family law and civil appeals in major hubs like Los Angeles. The days of the “physical runner” aren’t gone, but the digital portal has become the primary gatekeeper. Accuracy is now more valuable than speed; a single metadata error or an incorrectly flattened PDF can now delay a multi-million dollar filing just as easily as a traffic jam could ten years ago.

2. Process Serving: The Human Element in a Tech World While the justice system is going digital, 2025 proved that the human element of process serving remains irreplaceable. We’ve guided clients through the nuances of GPS-verified service and photo-captured affidavits. The “magic puzzle” of 2025 was balancing the reliability of high-tech tracking with the high-stakes requirement of due process. We’ve seen that the most successful firms aren’t just looking for “a server”; they are looking for a tech-enabled partner who provides a transparent audit trail.

3. Case Management: The Rise of AI Integration If 2024 was about talking about AI, 2025 was about integrating it. Case management systems have evolved into centralized hubs. We’ve moved away from “standalone tools” and toward unified platforms that handle everything from intake to trial prep. The most efficient firms this year were those that leveraged AI for chronology generation and document indexing, allowing their attorneys to focus on strategy rather than searching through a mountain of paperwork.

The Bottom Line: 2025 was the year the “smoke and mirrors” of legal tech cleared, leaving behind a streamlined, data-driven industry. If you’re still navigating these waters in an inflatable raft, it’s time to upgrade to a vessel built for the modern era. Let’s connect!