E-Discovery

In an era of massive spreadsheets, expansive power points, and wide ranging email discussions, there are innumerable documents that may contain tremendous amounts of non-relevant and sensitive information which the opposing side would not be entitled to at all, except for that information’s proximity to minimal amounts of relevant information. Not all courts have come out in the same place on redacting non-responsive information, however, and there appears to be a dearth of controlling law or general consensus. In this article we will survey a cross section of relevant cases on both sides of the issue.

This is Part Two of a continuing series on ESI basics. In this series, we cover some of the terms used most often on the tech-side of e-discovery. In Part One, my colleague, we provided an overview of PSTs. You can find that article here. Whether this is an introduction to you or a refresher, and whether you are an attorney, member of an in-house team or data analyst, this information may come in handy in your practice.

Endurance running, specifically trail races and ultra-marathon events, is a favorite pastime activity that I have enjoyed for seven years. I have run races as short as five kilometers (3.1 miles), one longer than two hundred miles, and most at some intermediate distance. The mindfulness and problem-solving skills demanded to complete some of these events (for non-professionals!) translate well to the E-Discovery world.

This Quarterly Spotlight focuses on Dennis Lim, LitSmart Supervisor of E-Discovery Data Services. Dennis and his family moved to the US from Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) in 1996 for better opportunities. At the age of 13 and speaking no English at the time, Dennis had to adapt to a new school and new environment. A desire to pay his parents back for all they have done for him, along with a love of computers, strong work ethic and ingenuity, have driven him to be successful. Dennis is also a connoisseur of electronic dance music and travels the world for the best festivals. Scott O'Neal was fortunate to learn more about what makes Dennis such a valuable team member and leader.

Recently, I began work on a complex litigation case that had millions of documents to review with many moving parts and quick deadlines that made completing assignments daunting, to say the least. We determined that simply running targeted searches to find this evidence was not the best approach, in part because the issues were broadly defined and had multiple subparts, and in part because of the sheer number of documents in the database (over 2.5 million records). As an alternative, we decided to utilize technology assisted review or “TAR” (also known in the industry as predictive coding). What follows is my impression of the tool.

This is Part One of a continuing series on ESI basics. In this series, we will cover some of the terms used most often on the tech-side of e-discovery. Whether this is an introduction to you, or a refresher, and whether you are an attorney, member of an in-house team, or data analyst, we think this information may come in handy in your practice.