Canadian Lawyer

Nov/Dec 2011

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be given, and how long the initial train- ing supervision will take. I've frequently provided document review lawyers with a memorandum of law and facts, so they get an overview of the case, and other docu- ments including chronologies, organiza- tion charts, timelines, lists of technical terms, lists of key people, lists of counsel (to identify privileged documents), as well as a memorandum summarizing the tag- ging instructions. In all reviews, I designate a team lead and group the reviewers into pods or small teams with each pod assigned a pod lead. I use this structure to ensure clear chains of communication. The pod lead- ers are responsible for ensuring that all additional instructions are communicated to each of the reviewers, and bundled into the review instructions book. Technical training: Consider how familiar the document reviewers are with the document review platform. If they are unfamiliar with it, determine who is responsible for training the lawyers on the platform and whether this will be paid or unpaid. In-person or remote review: The basic distinction is that in a remote review, document review lawyers can work remotely (including from home). In an in-person review, the review takes place in a centralized environment, at third-party offices, at the client's site, or at the law firm. Different structures for supervision are required in each case. Where reviewers work remotely, it is important to obtain certain warranties about systems security and document level security, particularly if the review involves privileged or confi- dential communications. Project planning: The two factors affecting the speed of review are the rate of review and the number of document review lawyers. In all the reviews I've supervised, this is practically a straight- line calculation. If you want to increase the speed of review, you need to increase the number of lawyers or the rate of review (or decrease the number of documents). In planning and budgeting, be realistic about the rate of review, which can depend on review complexity and the type of docu- ments. Be realistic about the supervision required for larger document teams, and www.CANADIAN Lawyermag.com N O VEMBER / D ECEMBER 2011 31 ntitled-2 1 11-10-25 9:27 AM build the required time into the budget. Finally, ensure that your document reviewers are not "out of sight, out of mind." Document reviewers gain valuable early insight into the strengths, weak- nesses, and tactical opportunities that may lie in the evidence. I interview document review lawyers frequently to bring this information forward to the case team, and use this information during the review to refine search terms, batch documents in groups more effectively, and improve the speed of review. Dera J. Nevin is the senior director, liti- gation support, and e-discovery counsel at McCarthy Tétrault LLP. A practising lawyer, she also oversees the firm's e-dis- covery operations and can be reached at dnevin@mccarthy.ca.

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