What is
E-Discovery Software?
When all the documents are relevant for
a case, the work of a document review attorney can be straightforward. However,
this is often not the case and, when presented with the documents related to a
certain case, these professionals often realize that relevant and irrelevant
files are mixed together on a hard drive. This can make the process harder for
any lawyer. Fortunately, however, there are plenty of tools available that can
facilitate the document review process. The following lines discuss the latest
software trends in this area.
Speeding Up the Process
The software commonly used to conduct
document review work are also known as e-discovery platforms. They are often
used to simplify or speed up the entire process by finding the relevant
information a contract attorney needs to assess certain documents that are
relevant to a case. But how do these platforms work?
Well, the basic idea is that the user
needs to point such an application to the folder containing all documents
received from a client, which are relevant for a particular case. Next, the
application will look for certain keywords and analyze the relevance of the
information present in all the documents. These well-thought out products are
heavily used by contract attorneys to speed up the document review process.
Each application usually comes with its
own set of filters that are used to drill down the information needed for the
completion of a case. For example, this could range from searching for relevant
videos by their file extension to analyzing emails and finding phrases that are
relevant to the customer. E-discovery platforms available nowadays are
customizable and allow for various sets of data.
Can These Tools Reduce Legal Costs?
Documents contain very useful metadata
that is lost when they are printed on paper. This precious information can be
decisive for a case, which is why contract lawyers rely on e-discovery
platforms so much. In addition to this, however, software can also help reduce
legal costs for clients, which is another major advantage.
Since most contract attorneys are paid
on an hourly basis, hiring a professional that uses the latest software
available in the document review process is always to the advantage of the
client, because the costs will be significantly reduced. In addition, the
client should be aware of some tips that could also reduce costs in the long
run.
For example, the first thing to know is
to never mix relevant with irrelevant documents. As a client, do your best to
load as few documents as possible and pick the ones that are relevant to your
case. In this way, the contract attorney will not waste precious time scanning
for relevant information in documents that does not apply to your case, and you
will therefore end up paying less.
Last but not least, you could also
purchase a license for one of the professional software programs used for
document review. Such a tool could help you determine what the relevant
documents are so you can make the work of an attorney easier.
Rahul D. Yodh is a Principal of Link Legal Search Group, a boutique legal search & staffing firm that provides lateral attorney recruitment and contract attorney services to organizations nationwide. For more information on Link Legal Search Group, please visit www.linklegalsearch.com
