Trial Attorney Transitions to AI at Age 40

Aurora Bryant, 40, made a significant career shift from practicing law to working in the artificial intelligence sector. After spending 15 years as a lawyer, including a decade as a trial attorney for the US Department of Justice, she accepted a position as the senior legal data intelligence lead at Relativity in mid-2025.

Bryant's pivot was motivated by her frustration with the limited resources and lack of modern technology available to lawyers, which created bottlenecks in her work. She now focuses on using generative AI to solve complex legal challenges. Her journey illustrates the value of embracing innovation and stepping outside one's professional comfort zone.

Aurora Bryant's path to the legal profession began in fifth grade when she stayed up late reading John Grisham novels. Drawn to the sense of justice in those stories, she never strayed from her goal of becoming a lawyer.

She studied economics at Tulane University in New Orleans while working as a file clerk at a local law firm. She later graduated from law school at Northwestern University in Chicago in 2010.

Her career included several distinct phases before joining the government:

• Worked at a law firm in New Orleans
• Employed at a nonprofit organization
• Joined a civil rights organization in 2011

In 2015, Bryant achieved her goal of working for the US Department of Justice. She relocated to Washington, D.C., to serve as a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division. She described this role as her "dream job," noting that the DOJ's nationwide mandate allowed her to impact lives across the country. Her favorite aspect of the job was bringing relief to victims of unlawful discrimination.

Despite the fulfillment she found at the Department of Justice, Bryant faced significant operational challenges. She identified "limited resources" as her least favorite part of the job. Specifically, she noted that the DOJ lacked access to certain modern technologies needed to be more efficient, which frequently created bottlenecks.

This frustration motivated her to explore how new technologies were being applied within the legal field. Initially, she knew very little about AI, knowing it only from headlines about lawyers filing briefs filled with fake cases.

Her exploration began in earnest through her involvement with groups within the DOJ focused on eDiscovery. This process involves collecting, reviewing, and producing electronically stored information relevant to a legal case. Through these groups, she started attending conferences in 2018, where she observed the growing application of AI in law.

In 2023, she transitioned to a newly created position as an eLitigation Counsel. In this role, she developed templates and best practices to streamline eDiscovery work. However, she remained frustrated by her inability to implement all necessary technologies due to resource constraints.

The realization that her future was not at the DOJ became clear earlier this year. Bryant began considering her next steps and was offered her role at Relativity in mid-2025. She made the jump to working in legal technology full-time.

At Relativity, she collaborates with a diverse team to ensure generative AI solutions meet the needs of attorneys and case teams. Her colleagues include:

• Data scientists
• Engineers
• Product leaders
• Designers

Bryant believes that leveraging AI will soon be as important as knowing how to use a computer was 20 years ago. She emphasizes that as technology evolves, professionals must evolve with it. She is currently learning new things daily, even writing a bit of code recently.

She draws on her 15 years of legal experience to help optimize Relativity's products. "I didn't see my career pivot as a risk; I saw it as an exciting opportunity to try something new," she noted regarding her decision to leave law.

Bryant's transition taught her the importance of understanding one's goals and passions before deciding on a next career move. Her goal was to find innovative ways to make a difference in her industry.

She found that bringing solutions to case teams working to advance civil rights was more sustainable and satisfying than being in an adversarial posture in litigation every day. While the move was scary, she found it empowering to lean fully into innovation.

She advises that it is important to be prepared to step outside one's comfort zone. "It's hard to say 'don't be afraid to take risks,' because lawyers are usually risk-averse," she said. However, she views this pivot as developing a whole new area of expertise. She remains excited about the future, whether it involves learning to code more or exploring other new technologies.