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How Neuberger & Partners LLP Are Using Technology to Win Cases
Neuberger & Partners LLP, Criminal Lawyers Toronto — May 25, 2026
The image of a criminal defence lawyer has long been cinematic: a sharp-suited advocate poring over paper files, cross-examining witnesses with nothing but wit and instinct. That image hasn’t disappeared — but behind it, a quiet technological revolution is reshaping how defence teams investigate, prepare, and argue cases. From AI-assisted legal research to forensic data recovery, technology has become as essential to criminal law as the courtroom itself.
Here’s how Neuberger and Partners LLP are harnessing technology to give their clients the best possible defence.
01 • AI-POWERED LEGAL RESEARCH
Legal research was once synonymous with long nights and towering stacks of case reporters. Today, platforms like Quicklaw, LexisNexis+, and CanLII use artificial intelligence to surface relevant precedents, statutes, and secondary sources in seconds.
For criminal defence lawyers, speed matters. When a client is remanded in custody or facing urgent bail proceedings, the ability to identify controlling case law quickly can directly affect whether someone sleeps at home or in a detention cell. AI research tools don’t just search by keyword — they understand legal concepts, flag conflicting authorities, and predict how courts in each jurisdiction have historically ruled on similar arguments.
Some platforms now offer “brief analysis” features that review a draft argument and flag weaknesses or missing citations before it’s filed. This kind of AI co-pilot is not a luxury — it’s a lifeline.
02 • DIGITAL FORENSICS AND EVIDENCE ANALYSIS
Criminal cases increasingly hinge on digital evidence: text messages, GPS data, social media activity, cloud storage, encrypted communications, and surveillance footage. Defence teams must be equipped not only to interpret this evidence but to challenge it.
Digital forensic experts working alongside defence lawyers can:
Material that may exonerate a client or contradict the prosecution’s narrative can survive deletion and be retrieved through forensic analysis.
File metadata can establish when documents were created, modified, or accessed — and challenge the Crown’s characterisation of that timeline.
Identifying handling errors in the management of digital evidence can render that evidence inadmissible — a powerful tool for the defence.
Enhancement software can reveal that a grainy surveillance image — apparently damning at first glance — is too low-resolution to reliably identify anyone. Our lawyers increasingly retain digital forensics consultants as a matter of course in cases involving electronic evidence.
03 • CASE MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION SOFTWARE
Complex criminal cases — particularly those involving multiple accused, extensive disclosure packages, or lengthy trials — generate enormous volumes of documents. Cloud-based case management platforms such as Microsoft OneDrive and SharePoint allow our team to organise, search, and share materials securely across offices and with co-counsel.
| WHAT CASE MANAGEMENT PLATFORMS PROVIDE | |
|---|---|
| Centralised document repositories | Full-text search across thousands of pages of disclosure, ensuring no critical piece of evidence is overlooked. |
| Task tracking and deadline management | Automated reminders and workflow tools ensure nothing falls through the cracks in complex, multi-party matters. |
| Secure client portals | Defendants can review their own materials and communicate directly with counsel through an encrypted portal. |
| Audit trails | Documenting who accessed what and when maintains the integrity of privilege and provides accountability. |
04 • COURTROOM PRESENTATION TECHNOLOGY
The days of handing a jury a paper exhibit and hoping they follow along are fading. Modern courtrooms increasingly support — and in many cases expect — sophisticated visual presentations. Defence lawyers now use courtroom presentation tools to:
Documents, photographs, and recordings can be highlighted, marked up, and zoomed during examination and argument — directing the jury’s attention precisely where it is needed.
A well-constructed digital timeline, displayed on a courtroom screen, can visually challenge the prosecution’s narrative of events in a way that verbal argument alone cannot match.
Clear graphics make complex scientific concepts — forensic pathology, toxicology, digital analysis — understandable to jurors without scientific backgrounds.
Counsel can call up specific moments in footage instantly, cross-referenced against the relevant transcript passage — particularly powerful in cases involving surveillance or body-worn camera recordings.
Research consistently shows that jurors retain information better when it is presented both verbally and visually — an advantage that matters most in complex fraud, cybercrime, or historical sexual assault cases where chronology is disputed.
05 • DRONE AND 3D SCENE RECONSTRUCTION
In cases where the physical layout of a scene is contested — a self-defence shooting, a disputed car accident, a property boundary dispute that escalated — our lawyers turn to 3D reconstruction technology. Using LiDAR scanning, photogrammetry, and drone footage, specialists create precise digital models of crime scenes that can be explored interactively in court.
These reconstructions can demonstrate sightlines and distances that support a client’s account, challenge witness testimony by showing that an alleged vantage point was physically impossible, and illustrate alternative theories of how events unfolded. When a prosecution witness claims they “clearly saw” something from a particular location, a 3D model showing the actual line of sight at that time of day — accounting for lighting conditions, obstructions, and distance — can be a powerful rebuttal.
06 • SOCIAL MEDIA INVESTIGATION
Social media has become one of the richest sources of investigative intelligence for both prosecutors and defence lawyers. Posts, check-ins, photographs, direct messages, and metadata can establish where someone was, who they were with, and what their state of mind was at a given time. Our team uses specialised tools and frameworks to:
| Establish alibis | Geotagged posts or live-streaming timestamps can place a client at a specific location at a specific time — independent of any witness. |
| Identify inconsistencies | Cross-referencing witness accounts against their own social media activity can expose contradictions that would not otherwise be apparent. |
| Preserve digital evidence | Specialised tools create authenticated, court-ready archives of online material before it can be deleted or altered. |
| Map social networks | Identifying connections between individuals can surface potential witnesses or exculpatory relationships not apparent from the Crown’s disclosure. |
Our lawyers remain alert to the authenticity issues social media evidence presents — screenshots are easily manipulated, and proper authentication is essential before relying on any such material in court.
07 • BODY-WORN CAMERA AND SURVEILLANCE FOOTAGE ANALYSIS
Police body-worn cameras have become ubiquitous in many jurisdictions, generating video evidence in almost every arrest. For us, this footage is invaluable — but it requires careful analysis. Video review software allows defence teams to slow down and enhance footage to capture details invisible at normal speed, synchronise multiple camera angles from different officers or nearby CCTV systems, create annotated clips for use in cross-examination, and compare footage against officers’ notes to identify inconsistencies.
In cases involving allegations of excessive force, unlawful search, or disputed arrest circumstances, body camera footage is often the most objective evidence available. Defence lawyers who know how to extract, analyse, and present it effectively have a significant advantage.
08 • PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS AND SENTENCING RESEARCH
When cases resolve with a guilty plea or verdict, the fight isn’t over — it moves to sentencing. Defence lawyers increasingly use data analytics tools to research sentencing patterns in their jurisdiction. By analysing historical sentencing data, counsel can identify mitigating factors that have historically led to reduced sentences in comparable cases, benchmark a proposed sentence against the range actually imposed for similar offences, and support arguments for rehabilitation-focused dispositions with evidence from outcomes research.
Some jurisdictions are also grappling with the use of algorithmic risk assessment tools by courts and probation authorities. A growing area of defence practice involves challenging the opacity and bias of these tools — requiring lawyers to understand not just the law, but the technology behind it.
— • THE HUMAN ELEMENT REMAINS CENTRAL
For all the power of these tools, technology is a means, not an end. Criminal defence remains a fundamentally human endeavour: understanding a client’s story, building a coherent defence narrative, crafting a compelling cross-examination, earning trust, and — before a jury — reading the room and making arguments that resonate emotionally as well as legally.
The best criminal lawyers use technology to be better prepared, better informed, and more effective advocates — not to replace judgment with algorithms. A digital timeline is only as persuasive as the lawyer presenting it. An AI research memo is only as useful as the counsel who critically evaluates it.
What technology does is level the playing field. When prosecution agencies have access to enormous investigative resources, technology gives defence teams the tools to scrutinise that evidence rigorously, identify weaknesses, and ensure that every client — regardless of their means — receives the thorough defence they are entitled to.
In an era where a smartphone contains more information about a person’s life than any witness could recall, criminal lawyers who embrace technology aren’t just keeping pace with the times. They’re fulfilling the oldest obligation of their profession: ensuring that no one is convicted on anything less than the full weight of properly tested evidence.
