Applied AI Manager (Litigation)

Covington’s Applied AI function exists to leverage advanced technology to positively impact the organization, the business, and client service delivery. The Applied AI team designs, builds, and deploys AI-enabled workflows, automation, and matter-support tools across the firm’s legal practice areas. The Litigation Applied AI Manager will report to the Director of Applied AI and serve as the dedicated Applied AI lead for the firm’s Litigation practice, including complex commercial disputes, class actions, regulatory enforcement defense, and related contested matters. The Litigation Applied AI Manager will partner with Litigation attorneys and case teams, the Litigation Knowledge Management (KM) and Practice Technology Manager, and the broader Applied AI team to identify, build, and scale AI-enabled tools that improve matter execution, attorney leverage, and client service delivery across the litigation lifecycle. Duties and Responsibilities: Design, build, and maintain AI-enabled workflows, automation, and litigation-support tools for disputes, investigations, discovery, and case management, including document review, case chronology and timeline construction, deposition preparation, briefing support, exhibit and evidence management, and witness research. Partner with Litigation attorneys and case teams to identify, prioritize, and sequence the highest-impact AI use cases for Litigation workstreams. Translate Litigation practice knowledge – discovery strategy, case theory development, deposition approaches, and briefing patterns – into reusable prompt patterns, agent workflows, and AI tooling. Partner with the Litigation KM and Practice Technology Manager to ensure AI tools are grounded in well-curated brief banks, strategy playbooks, discovery protocols, and matter intelligence. Educate and enable Litigation attorneys and case teams on the safe, effective, and confident use of AI tools through demos, training sessions, office hours, and ongoing support, partnering with practice group leadership and the Litigation KM and Practice Technology Manager to drive adoption. Evaluate, configure, and implement third-party AI and eDiscovery tools and platforms relevant to litigation, advising on build-versus-buy decisions and integrating selected tools into case team workflows. Define and apply quality controls, evaluation criteria, and review checkpoints to ensure AI-enabled work product is accurate, defensible, and consistent with Covington standards. Track adoption, performance, and value metrics for Litigation AI tools, surfacing actionable insights to the Director of Applied AI and Litigation practice leadership. Coordinate with the broader Applied AI team to share patterns, evaluations, and reusable components across practices wherever applicable. Stay actively informed of developments in legal AI for litigation and eDiscovery, and proactively bring forward new opportunities, pilots, and pattern improvements. Operate with appropriate attention to data handling, privilege protection, confidentiality, and AI governance in all tool design and deployment. Perform other duties as assigned by Firm management. Uphold high standards of confidentiality, discretion, and integrity, particularly with respect to all sensitive and/or confidential firm and client information to which this position will have access. Qualifications: Minimum of 5 years of transferable professional experience, with a meaningful portion in applied AI, machine learning, or legal technology delivery within a law firm, professional services organization, or comparable environment. Track record of designing, building, and shipping AI-enabled tools or workflows into production with measurable adoption and impact; experience with LLM-based applications, retrieval-augmented generation, evaluation methods, and modern AI tooling preferred. Working understanding of litigation workflows (e.g., discovery and document review, deposition preparation, briefing, case chronologies, exhibit management) sufficient to translate attorney requirements into AI solutions; familiarity with eDiscovery platforms and methodologies preferred. Demonstrated initiative and bias for action, with the willingness to own outcomes through to delivery and the judgment to know when to ship, when to iterate, and when to elevate. Genuine intellectual curiosity, with a habit of staying ahead of developments in AI and a track record of bringing fresh ideas and approaches forward. Solution- and objective-oriented mindset, with the discipline to anchor every project to a clear business or client-service outcome and the persistence to drive it through to delivery. Strong listener: genuinely curious about how attorneys work and what clients need, with the ability to surface root problems before proposing solutions and the patience to push past the first ask to understand the underlying objective. Comfortable as a teacher: able to demonstrate, train, and bring along attorneys and business professionals at all levels of technical fluency, with patience for the realities of change management in a partnership. Demonstrated ability to build trusted relationships across practices and functions – with attorneys, business professionals, technology partners, and operations teams – and to operate as a credible cross-practice and cross-functional connector. Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple concurrent priorities, drive projects through to completion, and lead effectively and with professionalism in a fast-paced environment. Strong written and verbal communication skills; able to communicate complex AI concepts in terms that resonate with attorneys and business professionals. Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree in a relevant technical, legal, or business discipline preferred. Position requires access to equipment, software, or technology that is subject to U.S. export controls. To be granted access pursuant to US Export Control laws, candidate must be either (a) a United States citizen or national; (b) a person lawfully admitted for permanent residence of the United States (i.e., “Green Card” holder); or (c) an INS-approved refugee or asylum holder who has applied for naturalization within six months of the date the individual first became eligible; and if not yet naturalized, is still actively pursuing naturalization if 2 years have passed since the date of application to be granted access pursuant to US Export Control laws. Candidates will be required to submit appropriate documentation to determine whether access can be granted before proceeding further through the application process. Status: Exempt Workplace Type: Hybrid (must be local to DC office) Salary range is $153,000 – $218,000 depending on candidate location and experience. Candidates hired for staff positions with a minimum work schedule of 30 hours per week are eligible for a comprehensive benefits package, including healthcare insurance. Learn more about benefits at Covington. View Covington job applicant privacy notice here: Covington & Burling LLP is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in any aspect of employment, including hiring, salary, promotion, discipline, termination, and benefits, on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, sexual orientation, family responsibility, disability (including physical handicap), or any other improper criterion. #J-18808-Ljbffr Covington & Burling LLP