Litigation and Investigations Services

Our services provide the efficient processing, hosting, review and production of the large volumes of documentation associated with litigation, arbitration and investigation matters. We utilise best-of-breed eDiscovery technology, including machine learning and AI, to build an effective document management process that helps you to meet your obligations and puts you in the best position to prevail.

Types of matters where we have significant experience include:

Commercial disputes
Insolvency cases
Patent and other IP disputes
Construction litigation
Employment matters
Internal and government regulatory investigations

Our team has over 20 years’ experience in handling all manner of disputes and investigations for international clients in multiple jurisdictions and languages. The high-quality results we produce are why many clients continue to come back to us again and again to get our help with all their litigation and investigation needs.

DWF is a supplier on the UK Government's Crown Commercial Service (CCS) frameworks: Legal Services Panel (RM6179), Wider Public Sector – Legal Services (RM6240) and e-Disclosure and Review Services (RM6336).

Our subject matter experts combine leading technology and proprietary processes to deliver cost-effective end-to-end eDiscovery services. We evaluate our client's challenges and strategically apply technology, including AI and analytics, from our expansive eDiscovery technology stack. We can support you by:

Collecting, processing, hosting, review and production of data at high quality, low cost and on-time
Using market-leading eDiscovery tools in a strategic and coordinated manner
Combining our best-of-breed technology tools with our offshore and onshore managed review teams to deliver high quality and low-cost results

In relation to our Managed Document Review service, we quickly deploy the right-sised team in the right locations, be they in India, the U.S. or U.K., giving you the reassurance of receiving the most effective and efficient solution.

We have an advanced system for handling all types of document reviews in a highly effective, quality-controlled manner that consistently delivers high-quality, low-cost results in a timely and efficient manner.

Whether working with your in-house legal team or an appointed law firm, we maintain full transparency in communications so all stakeholders are aware of progress and any changes that may be required.

What Litigation & Investigation services do we provide?

Our technology and legal professionals are available to support you with all eDiscovery and review services you may need.

eDiscovery

eDiscovery

We use best-of breed technology tools to provide processing, hosting and production of data across the various jurisdictions in which we operate. Our eDiscovery teams have decades of experience in handling complex litigation and investigations across several jurisdictions.
Managed review

Managed review

Our offshore and onshore attorney review teams partner with your legal department, law firm or technology provider to complete your litigation review on time and within budget. Our hands-on management approach ensures we can react to unforeseen issues and changes in the scope and size of your case. We engage advanced analytics to quantify critical project trends, whether related to data, relevance determination or issue prioritising.
Technology-assisted review

Technology-assisted review

Technology-Assisted Review (TAR) is the application of AI in litigation review to drive efficiency. Whether referred to as TAR, predictive coding, computer-assisted review or relevance feedback, our managed review teams leverage the latest technologies to ensure a successful outcome.
Litigation & investigation support
Litigation & investigation support

Our experienced disputes team also can assist with compiling witness binders and performing focused searches to prepare depositions for litigation. We assist clients with investigations by targeted searches for critical documents prior to key witness interviews and preparation of pre-interview binders.

Other areas we support clients with include:

Review protocol creation

Privilege log creation

Assistance in deposition/witness statement preparation

Summarise key issues by identifying key documents

Redactions

Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs)

Hearing preparation and trial bundles

Document Review for a Government Legal Body

Managed Document Review for a UK-Based Professional and Consultancy Services Organisation

Client situation

Our client, a UK-Based Professional and Consultancy Services Organisation, filed a claim in the English Commercial Court for breach of contract with respect to non-payment of fixed fees and a results-based incentive fee. For the disclosure request issued by the court, our client initially required 42,000 documents to be reviewed in 10 days to identify relevant and legally privileged documents, a large task to undertake only using internal resources.

DWF’s solution

DWF swiftly assembled a large team of seasoned attorneys, established the review space, and deployed the necessary technology within just two days - a crucial factor in meeting the tight deadline. Leveraging its technological prowess on Relativity and extensive review management experience, DWF analysed the dataset and systematically tiered the review population. This approach enabled DWF to identify a cluster of script files and a distinct pattern of Not Relevant documents, which were efficiently removed from the backend, thereby reducing the review population from 42,000 to 29,000 documents. Our team of expert attorneys completed the first-level review and QC within five days, providing ample time for the client and their counsel to prepare for disclosure and strategise for the case.

Key benefits & outcomes

DWF's technology expertise helped in reducing the review population by 30%, saving time and cost for the client.
DWF completed the review in five days, affording additional time to the client and their counsel ahead of the disclosure deadline, and freeing up the client and their counsel to focus on larger, more strategic issues

Document Review for Insurance Brokers

Client Situation

DWF was instructed on a complex litigation matter by lawyers across DWF’s Dispute Resolution teams, in which a number of brokers were defending various proceedings brought by their former employers. There were separate parts to the litigation and different workstreams running parallel to, but occasionally overlapping with, each other. The objective of the review was to identify and produce documents that were relevant to the many issues in dispute, while also considering Hot, Sensitive, Confidential and Privilege tags. Since data collection was ongoing throughout the project duration, documents were uploaded for review in phases and needed to be reviewed as quickly as possible to meet tight deadlines, while manoeuvring direction and strategy changes along the way.

DWF’s Solution

DWF’s team assisted the legal team by engaging a team of 5 paralegal reviewers and completed a review of 61k documents in under 2 months, a week before the deadline. The legal team also engaged in some first level review, as well as conducting the second level review in real time. To ensure quality, we implemented our in-built QC processes as a parallel piece to the first level review and established a communication workflow with the client for escalations, updates in instructions, prompt feedback and reporting. To ensure maximum consistency, especially in light of the frequent changes/updates, we collaborated with the eDiscovery team to implement various searches and performed strategic clear up tasks in conjunction with the legal team, including targeted keyword and MD5# searches.

Key Benefits & Outcomes

The following efficiency methods were deployed to ensure a quality review was delivered on time:
- clear and concise playbook, simplified coding design, persistent highlighting,
- search features enabled in view, ‘one click’ bulk coding actions, templates for comments
- strategic workflows, tailored saved searches
Engaging our cost-effective review team also meant that the project was delivered for less, without sacrificing quality.
The combination of our management strategies, continuous improvement processes, and significant time efficiencies, resulted in quality output and great client experience.