In-House Counsel Control of Technology and Review

In-house litigation counsel are faced with the dilemma of how to do more with less, and at a lower cost. Some are managing these dual objectives by strategically leveraging technology and review resources before and during the discovery phase of litigation. The process often begins with in-house counsel driving an early case assessment (ECA) to scope litigation alternatives. Then, through a careful and considered approach to document review, typically the most expensive component of discovery, counsel can minimize expense.

An ECA is devoted to quickly locating the critical evidence that will support positions that may ultimately be taken in litigation. Acquiring that knowledge early will reveal evidentiary gaps and drive decisions. If further litigation is inevitable, a carefully crafted document review strategy will minimize discovery costs. One of the primary components of any efficient document review will be a technology-assisted review (TAR) process. The TAR 1.0 protocol focuses on reviewing a relatively small set of documents to train the system to classify the remainder of the documents as responsive or not responsive. The TAR 2.0 protocol relies on continuous active learning, and uses every coding decision to train the algorithm.

Leveraging technology and review resources throughout the entire litigation process will enhance efficiency and minimize cost. ECA drives case management strategies. Active review management will facilitate control of the most costly component of discovery. In-house counsel are using these techniques to control their litigation spend and improve efficiency.