Control Numbers

General

Control numbers are a unique string of consecutive numbers that can be assigned to documents uploaded to a case.  They are similar to Bates numbers (sequential and can be printed on documents) and can be automatically assigned after a batch upload in the Lexbe eDiscovery Platform (LEP).

Purpose

Control numbers simplify the task of organizing documents, assembling document issues, and managing the review before Bates stamping is applied to a production.  Control numbers are document specific in LEP, meaning a control number is applied to each document followed by a paginated designation when stamping during Briefcase export (e.g. 1.001, 1.002, 1.003), providing users with a page-level internal reference number. A user is also able to add an optional prefix to the control numbers when stamping control numbers (e.g. LEXBE 1.001, LEXBE 1.002, LEXBE 1.003). LEP will automatically put documents in alphabetical order by Title, so assigning control numbers to un-produced documents ensures that the email families are maintained when exporting to a briefcase, or needing to sort for other reasons. 

Assigning Control Numbers 

Users can add control numbers by selecting the Case tab and choosing Add Case Documents.  Once on the uploads page, click the vertical dots in the upper right corner and select Assign Control Numbers.

A "Run Task" confirmation message will appear noting that "All processing must be complete before running this step. Are you sure you would like to run the selected task?" Click the blue OK button to run the Control Numbers.

Once control numbers have been added to the files, LEP will automatically check to ensure the numbers are not duplicated.  If control numbers are added to subsequent batches of files, LEP will start where the last control number left off, avoiding the possibility of two users creating the same control number at any time. If control numbers are being used in a case, each time new documents are added, the user must click "Assign to Case Docs" for the numbers to populate on the new documents.  It is not done automatically.

Processing Time

Applying control numbers is not instantaneous. For a small case, it should complete within a few minutes.  For a very large case, the process of assigning control numbers could take several hours to complete.  

Control Number Label Location

To print the control number and an optional unique prefix on the bottom-right of the page, select that option in the Download Briefcases dialog box. See Download Briefcase for more information.

Showing the Association of Email Messages and Their Attachments

Control numbers will order email attachments after the email body for MSG files and can be filtered and sorted with attachments nested after the email, then filtered by Doc Type from the Browse page.  The result will be an ordered list of email parents followed immediately by the attachment children.

Export to Excel

From the Browse and Search pages, select documents and the Control Number column to export to an Excel spreadsheet. The Excel log generates a report that can be filtered and sorted for further analysis. LEP supports the two most recent versions of Excel for Excel integration (2010 and 2013).