LexisNexis Equivio Integrated Solution Eliminate Data Redundancy in Litigation Review
BOOSTING REVIEW PRODUCTIVITY AND REDUCING LITIGATION COSTS Litigating organizations are challenged by exploding document volumes and skyrocketing e-discovery costs. The organizations involved in litigation -- from corporations to law firms and government -- are searching for effective ways to cope with the document surge. To help clients reduce ever-growing litigation costs, LexisNexis has integrated Equivio's technology for grouping near-duplicates and email threads with its LAW PreDiscovery and Concordance products. By grouping similar documents, LAW PreDiscovery and Concordance users gain a decisive competitive advantage less time wasted reviewing redundant data, and more time spent analyzing the unique information critical to the case. The integration of the Equivio technology expedites the management and review of large document repositories. The grouping of near-duplicates and email threads allows similar documents to be handled and treated together. The result: Concordance users can slash the time and cost of document review, while reducing the risk of error by ensuring the consistent treatment of similar documents. The potential savings through the use of near-duplicate grouping and email threading are compelling. Near-duplicate email thread grouping consistently drives review cost savings of 30 to 50%. This translates into huge potential savings for users of the integrated LexisNexis-Equivio solution. INTEGRATED SOLUTION FOR STREAMLINED DATA PROCESSING AND REVIEW The integrated LexisNexis- Equivio solution comprises the following system components: LAW PreDiscovery - e-discovery engine for processing paper and electronic files, images and existing load files. NearDuplicates detects and groups near-duplicate files in unstructured document repositories. EmailThreads captures and reconstructs email conversations. Concordance - discovery management software for searching, reviewing, organizing and sharing litigation documents. The integration of Equivio's technology enables LexisNexis users to streamline their e discovery process by detecting and grouping near-duplicate documents, reconstructing 2
email threads, identifying the unique differences between documents and ensuring consistent treatment of similar documents. Following is a typical flow of an e-discovery scenario using the integrated solution: 1 Collection of paper and electronic files into a single data repository. 2 Processing of collected data by LAW PreDiscovery: import of native files, emails and scanned documents; extract of text and metadata, conversion of native files to TIFF; deduplication and culling; and indexing. 3 Equivio seamlessly retrieves the data from LAW PreDiscovery, performs nearduplicate and email thread processing, and returns the enriched and structured data to LAW PreDiscovery. 4 LAW PreDiscovery sends the processed files to Concordance for search, review and production of documents by the review team. The documents are organized as nearduplicate and email thread groupings for streamlined handling using standard Concordance features. REVIEWING NEAR-DUPLICATE DOCUMENTS USING INTEGRATED CONCORDANCE-EQUIVIO SOLUTION NearDuplicates detects and groups near-duplicate files. While existing technology can detect exact duplicates, Equivio offers a unique capability for detection of nearduplicates. Near-duplicate files are documents with minor differences e.g., contract versions containing a few different words. NearDuplicates identifies near-duplicates and organizes them into sets for efficient and coherent handling. 3
The following screenshots illustrate the efficiency of document review using Concordance with the integrated Equivio technology: Screen 1 Equiset showing pivot document Documents are grouped into sets of similar documents (near-duplicates and exact duplicates) called Equisets. The first document to be reviewed in an Equiset is the pivot document, which is the most representative document in the near-duplicate set. Clicking on the pivot document displays it for review in the review panel. After reading the pivot, the reviewer can decide whether the rest of the documents in the near-duplicate set can be skipped or require granular review. The level of similarity of each document in the Equiset to the pivot document is indicated in the Similarity column. In the event that the reviewer decides that the near-duplicate documents in the set require review, the user invokes a built-in Compare facility that highlights the differences in each near-duplicate vis-à-vis the pivot document (Screen 2 below). 4
Screen 2 Highlighted differences using Compare facility The Compare facility allows the user to focus only on the differences, rather than having to read the entire document over again. Not only does this significantly shorten the review effort, it also minimizes the risk of missing important, but small, differences between the documents. BULK HANDLING OF GROUPED DOCUMENTS Using standard Concordance tools, the user may apply tags to the entire near-duplicate set. Bulk handling of Equivio groupings help ensure the consistent treatment of like documents by the review team. 5
REVIEWING EMAIL THREADS USING INTEGRATED CONCORDANCE-EQUIVIO SOLUTION EmailThreads captures and reconstructs email conversations. By identifying the unique emails in a collection, the tool drastically reduces the number of emails that need to be reviewed. Within Concordance, Equivio s grouping of email threads simplifies the review of emails, while allowing the review of the email within its original context. This means that users only need to review emails and attachments containing unique content. In addition, users can bulk handle all the emails in a thread, reducing time and cost, while also ensuring that all the emails in the thread are treated consistently. The following screenshots illustrate the efficient review of email threads using the Concordance-Equivio solution: Screen 3 Grouping of emails into Email Sets 6
Emails related to one another (reply, forward, etc.) are grouped into email threads known as EmailSets. Screen 4 Reviewing the first "Inclusive" in an EmailSet Within an email thread, review only the emails marked as "Inclusive". An Inclusive is the last email in a thread and, as verified by Equivio, contains the entire history of the thread. BOTTOM LINE: LESS COMPLEXITY, FASTER RESULTS, LOWER COSTS By grouping near-duplicate documents and emails prior to document review, the enhanced Concordance solution generates immediate, concrete benefits: Reduced costs. Reviewers are directed to what's important; viz. to documents that contain unique information, and to the unique information within each document. Proven in thousands of cases, Equivio's technology consistently reduces review and handling costs by 30 to 50%. Less time. In many situations, it s impossible to review all the documents in the given time window. Concordance enables prioritized review by zooming in on valueadded, unique data. Less risk. By focusing the user on unique documents and data, reviewers are less likely to miss critical information. 7
Consistent treatment. The Equivio groupings ensure consistent treatment of nearduplicate documents or all emails belonging to a thread. Similar documents can be bulk handled, for example, in applying responsive/privilege tags Enhanced findability of data. The near-duplicate and email thread groupings enable more compact presentation of search results, organizing the documents into groups of very similar documents for enhanced findability. 8
ABOUT LAW PREDISCOVERY LAW PreDiscovery software combines production-level imaging and electronic discovery processing in one powerful, easy-to-use application. It provides litigation teams with greater control and clarity during discovery by offering an internal solution to quickly assess and manage the amount of discovery in a case. With LAW PreDiscovery, teams can pre-review and cull non-responsive e- discovery and scanned documents before reviewing and processing to eliminate unnecessary costs and reduce time. For more information, please visit www.lexisnexis.com/law-prediscovery. ABOUT CONCORDANCE Released in 1986, Concordance was the first litigation document database software developed for the PC. Used by 92% of AmLaw 200 firms, Concordance discovery management software delivers the most effective, cost-efficient way to manage and review the high volume of documents. It allows teams to search, review, organize produce and share litigation documents scanned paper, email and electronic documents that are generated during litigation. For more information, please visit www.lexisnexis.com. ABOUT EQUIVIO Equivio develops text analysis software for e-discovery. Users include the DoJ, the FTC, KPMG, Deloitte, plus hundreds of law firms and corporations. Equivio offers Zoom, an integrated web platform for analytics and predictive coding. Zoom organizes collections of documents in meaningful ways. So you can zoom right in and find out what s interesting, notable and unique. Request a demo at info@equivio.com or visit us at www.equivio.com. Zoom in. Find out. Equivio, Equivio Zoom, Equivio>NearDuplicates, Equivio>EmailThreads, Equivio>Compare, Equivio>Relevance are trademarks of Equivio. Other product names mentioned in this document may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. All specifications in this document are subject to change without prior notice. Copyright 2012 Equivio 9