Bust these 4 Myths on Your Next Document Review
Conducting an effective and efficient legal document review requires a hybrid of rocket science, brain chemistry and hot coffee. With ediscovery technology and best practices constantly evolving, if your document review practices haven't changed in the last five years, you are likely wasting time and money for your organization and/or your client. To ensure your practices meet today’s demands, bust these four document review myths on your next ediscovery project.
Myth #1: Document review just happens; you don’t really need a plan
There is an outmoded notion that document review is a side-show to the main ediscovery attraction; however, that view could not be farther from the truth. Without question, document review is the most expensive aspect of discovery; accordingly, planning for the review should start at the same time the case team is thinking about preservation and collection. Failing to create a big picture plan and a thorough review manual can result in:
- Multiple “side reviews” for special issues or newly discovered documents
- Downtime for reviewers as they wait around for more work
- Documents being touched two or three times
Lesson #1: Don’t let any member of your case team procrastinate when it comes to planning for review.
Myth #2: Any old attorney can conduct (or manage) a document review
With formidable technology at their fingertips and millions of documents to wrangle, today’s document reviewers are anything but humdrum lawyers. Today’s document reviewers are not only licensed and highly qualified attorneys, but they often have specific training and certifications in various document review platforms. They understand how to employ the strictest quality control protocols to maximize time and minimize the cost of a review. Further, sometimes a review requires expertise in a language other than English or substantive knowledge in the following areas: banking and financial services, pharmaceuticals, insurance, telecommunications, technology, agriculture, transportation, oil and gas, securities, and more.
Lesson #2: Make sure you are equipped with the right people resources for your next review.
Myth #3: All document review technology is equal
While most major review platforms function in a generally-similar manner, there are significant differences in how the capabilities are executed by users – which impacts the expected results of a specific function. Rock star document review professionals understand and can articulate the features and benefits of multiple review tools and know how and when to leverage features such as workflow, predictive coding, near de-duplication, topic grouping, smart searching, machine translation (just to name a few of the vital technologies key to any modern review). Running searches, batching and assigning documents, categorizing, and performing QC should be second nature for experienced reviewers, and they should know the nuances of these functions in any specific technology platform. If they cannot answer a question, they should know how to get a hold of the technology provider’s technical support team to lend a hand.
Lesson #3: You should not settle for anything less than document review technology superstars.
Myth #4: It will be obvious when you can stop your review…when you run out of documents
With the advent of predictive coding and other technology assisted review technologies, no longer do attorney’s eyes need to be placed on every document. As such, determining when to call the review “complete” is complex. Today’s document review professionals are skilled at interpreting metrics and reports generated by the document review technology and know when the numbers are showing a high-quality review versus an incomplete review.
Lesson #4: Dust off your math skills (or leverage a specialist) – it’s the only way a savvy document review professional knows when a review is finished.
Leverage Kroll Ontrack for Document Review
With Kroll Ontrack, your document review could not be in better hands, eyes or minds. For nearly a decade, Kroll Ontrack has offered advanced document review services in the US. Now, with a document review facility in London, England – newly opened in December 2014 – Kroll Ontrack’s document review expertise is global.