Introduction: Unlocking the Potential of AI
Advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) are reshaping the landscape of eDiscovery — fundamentally transforming how legal operators approach document review. By harnessing AI-powered solutions, legal teams can now efficiently analyse, categorise and prioritise vast amounts of data with unprecedented speed and accuracy.
This fusion of technology and human expertise , when used correctly, creates a symbiotic relationship that drives efficiency, accuracy and defensibility in the eDiscovery process, and opens up a world of possibilities for continuous advancements in the legal industry.
Advancing Legal Operations with Computer-Assisted Review (CAL)
CAL is a vital technology that transforms the document review process. CAL employs machine learning algorithms to expedite and enhance the review of vast volumes of electronically stored information (ESI), providing several key benefits:
- Enhanced Efficiency: CAL streamlines document review by prioritizing relevant materials, significantly reducing the time and resources required for thorough analysis. By focusing on the most pertinent documents, legal teams can streamline workflows and expedite case preparation, as well as gleaning quicker.
- Improved Accuracy: CAL's machine learning algorithms continuously learn from human decisions, refining their ability to identify relevant documents with precision over time. This iterative process results in fewer false positives and negatives, enhancing the overall accuracy of the review process.
- Consistent Coding: CAL ensures uniformity in document categorization, minimizing inconsistencies that may arise from manual review processes. By applying consistent criteria, CAL promotes standardized coding practices across the entire document set, ensuring thorough and accurate analysis.
- Cost Savings: The efficiency achieved through CAL translate into tangible cost savings for legal operators. On a recent matter with DWF, CAL prevented the manual review of 50,000 documents, leading to a saving of more than $50k at $1 a document. By reducing the hours required for manual review, organisations can optimize resource allocation and minimize review-related expenses, ultimately maximizing ROI.
- Scalability: CAL is highly scalable and can efficiently handle large datasets, making it well-suited for managing expansive volumes of information. Whether dealing with millions of documents or smaller document sets, CAL adapts to the scale of the review project, ensuring comprehensive coverage.
- Defensibility: CAL enhances the defensibility of document reviews by providing transparent decision-making processes. By documenting the rationale behind document categorization and prioritization, CAL helps demonstrate the reasonableness of review outcomes to opposing parties or courts.
Despite its many advantages, CAL also presents several challenges that legal operations must navigate, including high quality training data investments, continuous surveillance requirements limited context of scope and privilege issues. This is where the symbiotic relationship with legal experts comes in. To effectively use CAL tools, legal departments also need to employ legal tech experts who know how to productively feed these algorithms with high-quality training data, implement comprehensive coverage of all relevant data types and can effectively monitor and review outputs to ensure compliance and accuracy.
As well, there are other key tools which can be plugged in to ensure effectiveness without overtaking the workdays of lawyers.
The Third Umpire – The Elusion Test:
The Elusion Test in CAL is pivotal for evaluating its efficacy and trustworthiness, akin to a “third umpire.” It gauges CAL algorithms’ accuracy by examining the -relevancy rates of – overlooked or discarded documents. It acts as a litmus test, instilling confidence in review outcomes. This test ensures CAL-driven document reviews are comprehensive, accurate, and defensible, enhancing the overall efficiency and integrity of legal operations. In navigating today's dynamic legal landscape, organisations require this strategic blend of advanced technologies and human expertise to effectively tackle complex challenges. DWF Legal Operations’ eDiscovery & Managed Review team stands at the forefront of innovation, seamlessly integrating cutting-edge technologies like CAL with the invaluable insights and experience of our legal experts.
By leveraging CAL alongside our adept team of legal professionals, we offer a synergistic approach that maximizes efficiency and accuracy while maintaining the highest standards of quality and compliance. Our collaborative model enables us to harness the full potential of AI, ensuring thorough, accurate, and defensible document review processes that unlock new possibilities in legal operations, whilst providing a cost saving to clients.
DWF's eDiscovery and Managed Reviews teams help navigate the complexities of eDiscovery with confidence, providing our clients with tools and techniques to use on their behalf safely and with the experience of the sharpest legal minds.
Contact us below to explore how our integrated approach can transform your document review processes and unlock new possibilities in legal operations.
Author: Vidyesh Sabne
