May 2017 edition
Planning an e-discovery review? Eight quick review tips to set you up for success
Jessica Hasen and Helen Stocklin-Enright, Perkins Coie
As both litigators and corporate counsel often lament, the greatest area of spend in litigation is on review. Review can certainly be expensive, but here are some tried and true tips for you to minimize costs, leverage technical and human resources, and ensure you get the most bang for your buck.
- Plan in advance and in detail. And then be flexible. While you may not always have the benefit of copious time, you can plan a general review structure that works well and can then be adapted to fit matter needs. Meet with key members of the team early and often to map out matter needs and how you’ll meet them with your review team.
- Leverage technology. Application of technology can look different in each case, but adapting technology workflows to match your needs can yield impressive results. Detect and translate foreign language documents to expedite time required for eyes on review. Agree to joint use of technology with opposing parties in your discovery stipulation where appropriate. Understand limitations of technology and craft workflows to work for the data in the particular matter.
- Take advantage of your resources, human and technical. There are resources all around you. Review teams often have boots-on-the-ground insight into the facts of the case – make use of their knowledge! Consult with your technologists on effective workflows and best practices. Ask your colleagues to share their own experiences and lessons learned.
- Train. Put yourself in the review team’s shoes. Remember that the review team is coming into the matter cold – what information did you find most helpful when you worked on the matter? What is the law; what are the key facts and dates; who are the key players; what are the key filings and documents? Present this information to the review team in an organized and cohesive manner.
- Think about knowledge transfer early. How are you going to funnel the critical information gathered by the review team to the more senior members who will be taking and defending depositions, drafting motions, and arguing the case in court? Have the review team identify key documents, draft issue memos, and collaborate on a case chronology. Thinking and preparing for knowledge transfer will help you avoid cram sessions to meet deadlines later on.
- It’s never too early to start QC. Don’t let QC bottleneck; spot-check reviewer coding as soon as a couple hours into the review. Identify errors in coding or misunderstanding of issues, correct these quickly, and avoid a build-up of problems requiring clean-up at the end of your review.
- Provide feedback. This goes hand-in-hand with doing QC. You want to spot misunderstandings of key issues and other review problems early and then immediately provide that feedback to the review team. Proactive provision of feedback and prompt responses to review team questions drive high-quality work product.
- Continuous learning isn’t just for technology. Review teams will mine data for information continuously for new privilege names, facts, and more. Have a means to efficiently funnel new information, key documents, and questions to the appropriate people in your case. Then adapt review workflows and QC searches – and your overall case strategy – as needed.
About the authors
Jessica Tseng Hasen is a senior discovery attorney with Perkins Coie LLP’s E-Discovery Services & Strategy (ESS) practice.
Helen Stocklin-Enright is the development manager for Perkins Coie LLP’s ESS practice.
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