Workflow for Preparing Documents for Depositions

This technical note will provide step-by-step instructions of how to identify, download, and print documents in the Lexbe eDiscovery Platform (LEP) as part of preparation for a deposition.

Step 1: Identify Deponents

Identify deponents and only work with data produced as part of a pre-deposition strategy. Deponents may be set up as Custodians, which may be filtered from the Browse or Search pages. Use keywords in Search to identify potential deponents.

Step 2: Create Custom Fields for Tagging Deponents  

This step is needed to associate deponents to documents of interest. Tags may be created from Management>Manage Custom Doc Fields.  These help identify documents and associate with multiple specific deponents established for a deposition.

How to Set Up Custom Tags

From the Management>Manage Custom Doc Fields page, create a custom coding section/field to tag Deponents. For example, Coding Section:  Deponents and then Coding Field (check-box): Lay, Ken.

Step 3: Find Documents of Interest

To find Documents of Interest to associate with deponents use search, filtering on Custodian/Case Participants, Emails, or other means. LEP allows the user to view and tag full documents displayed under the Document Viewer, one at a time under the Linear Review. These are also tags available as part of the Built-in Doc Fields, that may be accessed from the Browse and Search pages.

Filter on Emails using From and To and Author fields

From the Browse or Search pages, filter on documents using the Date Fields: From and To to identify documents to associate with deponents and narrow down search results, showing only a subset of relevant results. Filters are automatically saved in the database whenever the user clicks Apply in the Filter>Select Filters dialog box from the Browse or Search pages. This action automatically preserves the filter records on the list view under the Recent section and creates filter hyperlinks to open a specific set of documents. The default link titles are under the Recent Filter YYYY-DD-MM format, but the user may rename by clicking on the Edit hyperlink.  The user may pin and share the most used filters, delete existing records or Cancel. 

Identify Documents of Interest with Keyword Searching (e.g. Author and Email)

Use Searches From Keywords in Excel to create and save searches of specific terms (e.g. author, emails or other keywords of interest associated with deponents) to speed up the identification of documents of interest to associate with deponents. The spreadsheet template is particularly helpful when the user has large numbers of search terms to review in a case (up to 1,000 search terms are supported in the template).

A list of all the searches is automatically saved in the database whenever the user enters a keyword and clicks on Search in the Search text box. This action automatically preserves the search records on the list view under the Recent section and creates filter hyperlinks to open a specific set of documents. The default link titles are under the Recent Search YYYY-DD-MM format, but the user may rename them by clicking on the Edit hyperlink.  The user may pin and share the most used searches, delete existing records or  Cancel.  See Share Functions for more information.

Step 4: Tag Documents

Multi-Doc Edit Tag from Browse and Search

To code multiple documents simultaneously,  use the Multi-Doc Edit feature from the Browse and Search pages.

Linear Review

The traditional linear review process in LEP starts either from the Browse or Search pages. When the user clicks on the Title of a document the Document Viewer page will open the full document view. Once the file is opened from the Document Viewer, the user has the following options:

• • Code the current file and click the Save button.  This command will only save the tags applied (e.g. Deponent>Lay, Ken), without moving to the next document.

  • Auto-Advance (check-box): To move to the next document automatically, select the Auto-Advance check-box. This option lets the user review, code, and advance to the 24 subsequent documents in list. After 25 documents, close the current window and return to the Browse or Search page. Advance a page (at the bottom of the main table), and then click on the first document in the page to open the document viewer to proceed for the next 25 documents, etc. 

Propagate Coding (check-box). When Propagate Coding is selected, coding under the Disc tab for the current document will copy to all members of an email family (overwriting prior coding), but only for RESPONSIVE and PRIVILEGE.  Propagation does not apply to custom fields.  See Email Family Propagation for more information.  

Step 5: Prepare a Timeline 

A timeline may be generated from the Facts & Issues page as part of preparation for a deposition. See Facts & Issues for more information.  

Step 6: Annotate Documents 

The user may annotate or highlight documents of interest using the Annotation feature.  Highlight and create text notes in the PDF version of any file, without affecting or automatically modifying the original. See Annotation for more information.  

Only the PDF versions that are NOT annotated/highlighted will be automatically included in productions under the PDF, TIFF, and TEXT sub-folders.

Step 7: Download Documents 

Filter on the custom tag for the deponent or use saved filters (if applied). Select all documents and create a Download Briefcase. When using Export to Briefcase, do not forget to select the option Bates>Stamp Existing Bates Numbers on PDF Pages (from previous production).  

Step 8: Print Documents

After creating a Briefcase, go to the Case>Download Briefcase page. For easy printing, select the option PDF Merge to create

a single PDF file with all merged pages within it that can be printed in one step.  Since the documents are Bates Numbered, they will be printed in Date Order.  Email messages and all attachments will be merged to form one single document. The first page will be the email body and attachments on the subsequent pages in order.

Printing PDFs

When archiving a production online, an option is to filter on the production and then create a briefcase. In LEP the briefcases include the PDFs (Bates Stamped if selected), the native versions of the same files, and the TIFFs (if the user selected a TIFF production). However, the PDF versions of the same documents produced are smaller and can be printed easily as opposed to TIFF productions.