Concordance Tip Sheet September 2007

Transcription

1 Concordance Tip Sheet September 2007 Constant readers may note that my August 2007 Tip Sheet was conspicuous by its absence. By way of explanation, most of the small glitches on Concordance 2007 s initial release were fixed in the second fix release, 9.02, during August, so I held off in order to evaluate this new build. My summary response (at the very end of September) is, what are you waiting for? Concordance 2007 has the same robust database engine, even better search tools, deeper tagging, real and attachment import, enhanced links to CaseMap and Total Litigator, and a wicked snazzy yet straightforward interface. I had planned to drill into the improved search in greater depth this month, but recent conversations and engagements have moved me to give precedence to another subject: Just what the heck is FYI? FYI What LexisNexis Concordance FYI is best described as a gateway to Concordance. You start with Concordance databases, the same sort of Concordance data we have discussed lo these many years. FYI provides remote access to these databases, adding in particular: Access Control Encryption Data Compression Management tools A built in Web server (FYI doesn t use Internet Information Server) The FYI Administrator s Console which may be installed on an admin s desktop and pointed at the FYI Server via a defined port enables the registration of Concordance databases for FYI access, the definition of Clients, Matters and Users related to each database, creation of scheduled data maintenance jobs, views of server performance via dashboard and logs, and the management of sessions.

2 When a database is registered, it is attached to a Matter, which is itself attached to a Client. Users are then attached to the database to enable Web access via the FYI Reviewer plug in for Internet Explorer. In the alternative, a registered database may generate an FYI link file at the click of a button; this.fyi file, whose four lines consist of the database short name, the server address and port, an optional description, and a serialization code for encryption, may be ed to branch office Concordance Network users or roving Concordance Mobile users to open databases remotely using Concordance. FYI How There are two ways to connect to a Concordance database via FYI; in all cases, permissions within the database are defined by the database administrator under FILE / Administration / Security: FYI Reviewer This Web client is the access method preferred by LexisNexis. The browser plug in may be downloaded either directly from the FYI Website ( or downloaded to a privately maintained FYI Server and made available from there. The interface of FYI Reviewer was actually a precursor of Concordance 2007, with the same Outlook style SideBar (or Dashboard), Tag folders, horizontal split screen and simple search tools. There is an Opticon viewer built in. Since remote users really should not be loading or maintaining data (other than transcripts), these features are not made available in FYI Reviewer. This type of access is rented per user per month. Caveats: This plug in does not currently support proxy or virtual private network (VPN) network access. While data may be linked to CaseMap, CaseMap cannot link back to a browser applet. There is no fix in the works for this behavior, which has more to do with the stateless nature of a browser than with CaseMap or Concordance in particular. FYI Concordance Link Shortcut This was the original access method offered when FYI made its first appearance. Opening a database from Concordance via an FYI link file instead of the DCB looks a lot like a regular Concordance database. Data

3 FYI Where and Why and images are compressed at the server, and some functions are handled at the server before going out over the wire. This type of access carries no additional charge for self hosted FYI, since the Concordance software is already licensed. Caveats: FYI over Concordance looks a little too much like a standard open database. If permitted, users may be inspired to try to load data, pack and index, none of which is a particularly good idea over a remote link. Also, we have found that DATE searches run in Concordance 2007 s Quick Search bar for some reason take an inordinately long time as compared with the same searches run from Form Search or Advanced Search. LexisNexis has acknowledged this issue and passed it over to Development as a low priority fix. With discovery getting larger and larger in the age of e discovery, greater resources and wider access are essential. Even with relatively cheap storage and a variety of high speed broadband options, a single production of electronically stored information (ESI) may require terabytes of storage and careful data management even after culling. LexisNexis acknowledges this fact by offering FYI as licensed software or as a hosted service. FYI Core Server This software installs on a fairly standard Windows server: Windows 2003 or Windows 2000 server, fully patched, 2 4 Gigabytes of memory (the more the better), one or two fast processors (ditto), fast storage and network connection. The FYI Server may reside on the same physical device as Concordance (for faster performance) or on a different device (for enhanced security); in either case, LexisNexis recommends that the server sit inside the network firewall. The Windows IIS Web Server is not used, and is not required, for the five included FYI Reviewer licenses. While FYI Core Server is meant as a remote access gateway, internal users may address Concordance databases though it as well. Registering databases through FYI gives the administrator a dashboard for efficiently managing Concordance databases. Hosted FYI

4 This service is offered by LexisNexis, which manages the data from its heavy duty Applied Discovery facilities. For a sliding volume scale of one time setup (per gigabyte loaded and per user access) and monthly hosting and user charges, LexisNexis will handle the loading, access and maintenance. This makes particular sense when several firms are working together on a case across a wide geographic area. This approach offers a disparate litigation team a way to jointly expense document review rather than wrangle over allocating a capital investment by any one firm. It also offers a path to migrate to LexisNexis Applied Discovery hosted review tools should the scope of discovery evolve beyond an elegant Concordance/FYI solution. FYI Who Is FYI for you? It depends on the nature of your litigation practice. If your cases and reviewers are largely localized, Concordance alone should suffice. If your firm cooperates in many multi district matters involving diverse and dispersed counsel, the investment in FYI Core Server is an excellent level in taking the lead. If the matters or number of players threaten to become unmanageable, it is probably time to consider Hosted FYI as the document review hub Array Technology Group LLC Continuous Improvement Dept.: I am pleased to announce that Array Technology Group LLC has had its Basic and Advanced Concordance Document Review training programs accredited by the New York State Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Board. Announcements of classes will follow. If you are interested, or have other thoughts to share, drop me a note at akass@arraytech.com. If you re pining for a new installment of this oeuvre, relive our past glories in the Concordance Tips archives on our website, just follow the link to Concordance Tips. (A refresh of that website is in the works.) Remember, if you need to master discovery, prepare a production or present at trial, Array Technology Group LLC is your flying litigation support department only a phone call away at , ready to bring our 23+ years of experience and integrity to work for you. Andy Kass

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