Doing Document Reviews

This technical note provides step-by-step instructions on document review and production preparation in the Lexbe eDiscovery Platform (LEP).

Develop a Review Plan

LEP allows for different review and production workflows depending on case requirements.  

Choose a Review Methodology

The two most common methods of review are Linear Review and Keyword Based Review. Predictive Coding or other forms of Technology Assisted Review ("TAR") are sometimes done in very large cases.  A brief description, relative advantages and disadvantages, and best use of each follows: 

Issue Coding and Responsiveness Review

The user must determine if issue coding will be done simultaneously with the responsive/privilege Linear Review or at a later date.  If issue coding will be done at the same time, the issues will need to be set up on the front end.  LEP has no limit to the number of custom fields/tags.  However, only use as many as can reasonably be coded.

For a Keyword Search or Predictive Coding review, issue coding of key documents can be done before or after the responsiveness review.  Key documents to issue code can be found using search, filtering on Custodian or email, etc.  

Predictive Coding (Assisted Review +)

We offer a predictive coding service.  Assisted Review +.   For more information please see our  Assisted Review +Technical Note explaining this service and contact your sales consultant for a quote.  

Process

Upload Documents to LEP 

See Add Case Documents for more information.  

Culling Documents Before Creating Review Sets

The process of Culling (aka reducing or filtering) electronically stored information (ESI) is designed to allow the user to defensibly reduce a large collection of documents to a smaller set for further review.  See ESI Culling for more information.  

Prepare Custom Fields for Issue Tagging

This step is required only if specific issue-tagging will be done at the time of the responsiveness review. Manage Custom Doc Fields are created from the top menu under Management->Manage Custom Doc Fields.  Fields are also referred to as tags.  The Account Admin User may set up an unlimited number of custom fields.  Custom fields may be assigned using Multi Doc Edit or retrieved using Filters and Saved Filters from the Browse and Search pages.  See Manage Custom Doc Fields for more information.  

Review Documents for Responsiveness

The responsive review will be done differently depending on whether the review is Linear or Keyword Search-based.

Linear Review

In LEP, a traditional linear review process would start from the Browse or Search pages.  

 From the Browse or Search pages, click on the title of the document to review/code.

The file opens in the Document Viewer.  Choose from the following options: 

Save Button. Code the file and click Save.  This command will save the tags applied (e.g. Responsive, Confidential, etc.) and will not advance to the next document. 

Auto-Advance (check-box): To move to the next document automatically after saving, select the Auto-Advance check-box. The user may review, code, and advance through 25 documents.  After 25 documents, close the window and return to the Browse or Search pages.  Advance a page at the bottom of the main table to proceed through the next 25 documents.

Propagate Coding (check-box).  If this option is selected, select coding applied under the Disc tab->Coding section (Responsive, Privilege, etc.) will be copied to all members of an email family (over-writing what was there before).  See Email Family Propagation for more information.  

Auto Advance only persists to the list of 25 documents in the Document Viewer. Propagate Coding DOES NOT apply the same coding to next document in line, only to documents in the Email Family for the current document.  

If the case requires multiple reviewers, we recommend using the Review Set feature.  See Review Sets for more information. 

Keyword Review

In a Keyword Review, responsive documents are identified with keyword searches.  

The quality of a keyword review is dependent on the quality of the keyword used.  Keyword quality may be increased through the use of Boolean search terms.  See Search for more information.   

Review Documents for Privilege and Work Product

Attorney-Client Privilege and Attorney Work-Product Built-in Doc Fields are accessible from the Browse, Search, and Document Viewer pages. A Privilege Review can be done either as part of a Linear Review or by using a Keyword Review, as discussed above. 

Privileged and Work-Product documents can generally be withheld from production and instead are identified on a Privilege Log. The final Privilege Log is created in Excel and can be downloaded for further review.  

LEP allows the user to view and tag documents displayed in the Document Viewer one at a time.  

Use of Claw-Back Agreements

A claw-back agreement is a formal understanding between the parties that production of privileged and protected information is presumed to be inadvertent and does not automatically waive attorney-client privilege.  The receiving party generally must sequester or return the privileged material until the parties resolve the privilege issue.  The Committee Note to FRCP 26(f) recognizes and encourages attempts by the parties to minimize the costs and delays associated with reviewing ESI for privilege by agreeing to protocols that minimize the risk of waiver.  Claw-Back Agreements have become more common with the increased volume of data that make a thorough privilege review cost prohibitive.

Redacting Documents

See Redaction for more information.  

Using Confidential and Custom Designation Tags

LEP includes Confidential and Custom Designation tags that may be used with Linear Review or Keyword Search. The Confidential tag will endorse the terms "Confidential" on the lower right hand side of image. The Custom Designation tag is equivalent to the Attorney Eyes Only, Highly Confidential, Subject to Protective Order or other special designation for documents.  It will print a message on the lower right hand side of a Bates stamped page once the production is complete. 

To code files with the Custom Designation and/or Confidential tags, perform one of the following options:

-Use the Multi Doc Edit feature from the Browse or Search pages.

-Use Coding in Excel and Upload Metadata to reset multiple fields at once.  See Upload Metadata for more information. 

-From the Document Viewer under the Discovery Tab (one document at a time).

Create a new production and enter a unique text in the Designation text box field.  Enter full text messages (usually up to 50 characters)  (e.g. Subject To Protective Order).

In addition to the custom designation text, the user must also code the files using all the tag mentioned above to print the custom designation text on the lower right of a Bates stamped page.

If the user codes the documents using the Confidential tag, the files will only display the Bates and the word Confidential at a page level.

Bates Numbering Order (Including Downloaded from a Briefcase)

LEP will Bates number documents in order of Doc Title, with attachments nested after parents.  If the document date is prefixed to the title, as with emails, the title will effectively order the documents by date.  Privileged documents will not be produced, but will receive Bates numbers at the end of the production range.

To order documents by group, such as by Custodian, it is best to run a separate production for each group.  This will meet the goal of grouping by batch for Bates numbering (still ordered as above within each group).

Bates numbering as part of a production is done on the basis of the Doc Date, with email attachments to MSGs, if any, nested after the email.  If the documents have the Doc Dates, they should Bates stamp in order.

For documents with no dates, it will print using the document Title order.

Bates stamped documents are printed in the following order:

1 - Responsive and non-Privileged/Work Product, with Doc Date, sorted by Doc Date, then by Doc Title

2 - Responsive and non-Privileged/Work Product, without Doc Date, sorted by Title

3 - Privileged/Work Product, with Doc Date, sorted by Doc Date, then by Doc Title

4 - Privileged/Work Product, without Doc Date, sorted by Title

In options 1-4, email attachments of MSG emails are sorted after the email body, irrespective of the email attachment Doc Date or Doc Title.

Using 'Reviewed by Me' Tag and Review Progress Report

LEP includes a Review Status section.  This allows the user to easily group, code, and generate reports in Excel by tagging the documents from the Browse, Search (check-box HasBeenReviewed) or Document Viewer (check-box Document Reviewed by Me).  See Review Tracking for more information.  

How the Review Status works in LEP 

The Reviewed By Me tag is used to track review progress and allow users to individually determine which files need further attention or are ready for production. 

The Reviewed By Me tag can be set manually, as part of a multi-doc edit, or is set from certain other tags in a linear document review from the Document Viewer.  From the Document Viewer->Discovery tab, if the user tags documents as Responsive, Attorney Work Product or Confidential, LEP will automatically check the field Document Reviewed By Me.   

The Reviewed by Me tag is related to discovery coding and will not automatically set when a user opens a document or when using coding fields under the General Coding and Custom Field Section.  

By design, the Browse and Search pages allow the user to code multiple documents simultaneously, using one tag at a time. Select multiple documents and use Multi Doc Edit to tag separately as Responsive, Attorney Work Product or Confidential, including the field Review->HasBeenReviewed.  

Create a Production in LEP

See Production Job for more information.  

Download the Production and Perform Quality Control Review.   Download the production and save to local desktop.  Review the production and documents before releasing.

All productions include the original native files (if present), a converted PDF file or PDF placeholder file, if conversion was not successful, and single-page TIFF and text files, if selected.  Redacted documents are substituted for PDF and TIFF files, if present.

All productions will have the following Folders:

ORIGINALS

PDF

LOADFILES

If a TIFF production is selected, there will also be these folders:

TIFF

TEXT

All productions will include the following standard load files in the LOADFILES folder:

LEP's load file (Excel format XLSX)

Concordance (DAT)

Summation (DII)

The Concordance load file is accepted and loadable into a variety of litigation databases, including Ringtail, Relativity, Concordance FYI, Concordance Evolution, and other review applications.

If the user does not wish to include certain versions of the documents (e.g., Originals or PDFs), delete them before producing.

Placeholders in a Production

See Placeholders for more information.