Unified ediscovery Platform White DISCOVERY, LLC

Transcription

1 Unified ediscovery Platform White DISCOVERY, LLC

2 Benefits of a Unified ediscovery Platform Litigators have often used technology to assist them in their craft. In the old days (read: 1970s-1990s) litigators used cutting edge technologies like computer data storage and scanning equipment to create digital images of warehouse documents in order to sift through and sort mountains of paper. With the rise of litigation in the computer age, the ediscovery industry has grown with the tradition of using technology. In the past 10 years alone we have seen document databases, optical character recognition (OCR), near duplicate detection, early case assessment (ECA), and, most recently, Technology Assisted Review (TAR) technologies gain tremendous traction in litigation. While each new technology has created efficiencies in the overall litigation process, the number of technologies used can dramatically increase the complexity of a matter and introduce their own, unintended inefficiencies. CasePoint is a unified ediscovery platform that provides a single, contiguous technology that enables a cohesive workflow. Identification Collection Analysis Processing Review Production In recent years there has been an attempt to consolidate the technologies used in ediscovery under the umbrella of more holistic software packages. Consolidating these technologies provides a number of benefits, including speed, accuracy and lower price. Some software vendors and service providers have done a decent job of bringing these technologies together, but few have been able to provide a truly unified technology platform which would allow customers to reap the most benefits. This whitepaper will discuss Discovery's CasePoint ediscovery platform has brought to life the goal of a unified ediscovery platform and provide a detailed analysis of how CasePoint's holistic technology capabilities has benefited the litigation process for its users. PAGE 2

3 Benefits of a Unified ediscovery Platform Speed Much of the ediscovery workflow involves moving data from one phase of the EDRM to another. In ediscovery there is a tremendous amount of time dedicated to exporting data from one tool (ex: ECA utility) to another tool (ex: processing engine). Since the EDRM is comprised of multiple phases, each of which can have a distinct tool, the amount of time spent exporting and importing can clearly add up. The issue of speed, however, is not only about exporting and importing load files. The mere act of copying data between traditional systems can take a tremendous amount of time. A major benefit of using a unified ediscovery platform is that most of the exporting and importing is eliminated. Data leaving the ECA module simply slides over to the processing module, which saves a lot of valuable time. There is also the added benefit of being able to transfer tagging decisions made between phases of the EDRM. For example, tagging decisions made in the ECA analysis phase will be easily transferred to the review platform when using a unified platform. Accuracy One of the greatest concerns in ediscovery is performing a function inaccurately. Did you miss a piece of metadata? Are you certain that the data was deduplicated across custodians properly? These concerns are exacerbated when using multiple tools throughout the EDRM. As data is being exported from the processing utility, are you sure you are including all of the needed fields? Does the review platform you are using understand all of the metadata fields that were processed by the processing engine? We have all heard horror stories of reversing the date field from the processing engine (processed data that used European date formats) and making the dates seem backward in the review platform. When this happens, s can be off by months and loose documents appear to have been created on a fictitious date, according to the database. In a unified ediscovery platform there is no need for load files between systems or data mapping between databases. Data flows in a unified platform from one phase of the EDRM cycle to the next without concern for data loss or transcribed data formats, because truly unified platforms share data structures and do not need to export and import between systems. This removes the human element in ediscovery, reduces mistakes and increases accuracy. PAGE 3

4 Scalability ediscovery often deals with large amounts of data. Such data must move through various stages of the ediscovery lifecycle. For example, two terabytes of data might be ingested into ECA and culled down to 300 gigabytes of data ready for document review. In the document review platform, the data may go through a TAR workflow, followed by a more detailed privilege review. Finally, 50 gigabytes of data may be produced in a variety of formats to the opposing party. All of this data needs to be handled by an ediscovery system that can grow throughout the lifecycle of a matter. A truly unified ediscovery platform has the ability to scale broadly regardless of what phase of the ediscovery lifecycle a case is in. The very nature of a unified ediscovery platform requires that the platform be able to ingest large sets of data from the outset and handle the peaks and valleys of data processing along the way. A truly unified ediscovery platform does not contain a series of independent tools with their own individual limits and capacities; instead, a unified ediscovery platform can use its entire capacity to expand and contract with the demands of all the tasks in the lifecycle of a matter. Data Security and Integrity Many individual ediscovery utilities require their own database server and file storage locations. Sometimes these tools are located across the Internet and are hosted by various service providers or partners. When these tools are used in concert with each other throughout the lifecycle of typical litigation, there are many copies of the data and metadata being made across all the individual storage locations. These copies are a breeding ground for data security attack vectors and potential data integrity loss. Maintaining a strict data chain of custody is of the utmost importance in litigation matters and data integrity is a key component in that process. Unified ediscovery platforms tend to have a centralized database and file system that does not suffer from the weakness of unnecessary copies. This makes unified ediscovery platforms better suited for maintaining overall data integrity and reducing risks from data security attacks. Ease-of-Use Learning new software comes with its challenges. While most ediscovery software is accompanied by training sessions and support, some features are not used frequently enough to be intuitive at the time of need. Simply navigating the interface of a new or infrequently used software tool can slow you down. This issue is particularly noticeable when using disparate ediscovery tools. The ECA interface may be a Microsoft Windows-based tool, the processing engine may be a cross-platform Java-based solution and the review platform may be a web-based solution. In the end, your users need to understand each individual platform and their particular peculiarities. PAGE 4

5 @Legal Discovery CasePoint - Unified ediscovery Discovery created its unified ediscovery platform, CasePoint, in 2009 and it remains one of the few offerings of its kind in the market CasePoint combines all phases of the EDRM under a single, unified platform. Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) The EDRM provides a framework for understanding the workflow in a typical ediscovery matter. CasePoint provides functions that support each phase of the EDRM. CasePoint allows attorneys to document the preservation and collection process, perform full early case analysis on the collection data, complete data processing (including difficult to process data types, such as Lotus Notes files), provide full-scale document review for thousands of simultaneous users, and it also includes a complete production and exhibit facility. Its breadth and depth certainly CasePoint one of the most feature-rich unified ediscovery platforms available. Processing Preservation Information Management Identification Analysis Production Presentation Collection Review VOLUME RELEVANCE CasePoint - Delivering on a CasePoint delivers on the promise of the benefits of a unified ediscovery platform. CasePoint brings the speed, accuracy, scalability, data security and integrity, and ease-of-use of a robust unified ediscovery platform. PAGE 5

6 Speed CasePoint is very fast. With the ability to spread its workflow across hundreds of servers, CasePoint can ingest and process data faster than typical single-purpose systems. Do you need to OCR 1 million pages in an afternoon? CasePoint can deliver. Do you need to process one terabyte of data before this weekend? CasePoint can churn through the data that quickly. At the core of its speed is a massively distributed data architecture housed in a dedicated storage area network that is a self-provisioned, server-on-demand infrastructure. This means that CasePoint can handle data quickly and scale to meet the demands of your case. Accuracy CasePoint does not rely on moving data and metadata from one platform to the next to complete its tasks. In CasePoint, all data flows from one model within the system to the next without the need for load files or complex data transfers. This means less room for mistakes and that data used in one part of the system can be reused in another part of the platform with perfect fidelity 100 percent of the time. CasePoint's accurate data ingestion and data production functions means Discovery's clients can rest easy about the quality and integrity of deliverables exported from CasePoint. Scalability CasePoint is designed to scale. Its architecture supports N+1 data processing agents and N+1 data handling agents. The result is an ediscovery system without limits. Since CasePoint is not dependent on any one computer to complete its functions, the scalability of CasePoint also provides greater redundancy and data availability versus competing market solutions. Data Security and Integrity CasePoint has a centralized database and file storage system that maintains a strict chain of custody of client data throughout the entire lifecycle of an ediscovery matter. This centralized system provides security best practices along with improved data integrity management. This centralized approach also promotes better disaster recovery and business continuity processes as differential data copies can easily be transmitted to a hot-site location. PAGE 6

7 Ease of Use CasePoint is intuitive and easy-to-use. From the menus and screen layout, to the Web browser-centric design, CasePoint is designed to be used by novice users with only basic training. The fact that the user interface is consistent carries through the entire platform. A user initially performing ECA but later shifting over to a full-blown review will feel natural and at home the entire time they are using CasePoint. It has been said of CasePoint that, It was clearly designed by people who actually know what it is like to perform a document review, and that familiarity plays itself out in CasePoint across the entire EDRM workflow. Conclusion Technology is a core component of litigation today. While single-purpose ediscovery software packages made sense during the initial evolution of the litigation support software market, the advent of unified ediscovery platforms clearly offers many advantages over stringing together a number of single-purpose tools. A unified ediscovery platform inherently brings the benefits of speed, accuracy, scalability data security and integrity, and ease-of-use to the litigation workflow. $ Expert Team Litigation Support ediscovery Workflow Quick Data Analysis Predictable CasePoint delivers on the promises of a unified ediscovery platform. Its advanced architecture and intuitive user interface results in a perfect blend of power and usability with more advanced features being added on a regular basis. If you would like to see for yourself CasePoint can make a significant impact on your ediscovery matter, please contact us today for a demonstration. PAGE 7

8 @Legal Discovery - About Discovery provides attorneys, litigation support and other legal professionals with advanced software and services that span the entire Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM). s SaaS platform, allows users to manage large amounts of ediscovery data from ingestion through production. The company s services include data collection, early case assessment, processing, hosting, production and consulting, delivered by seasoned ediscovery experts, including attorneys, technologists, litigation support professionals and DISCOVERY, LLC info@legaldiscoveryllc.com