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from those documents). It might also be useful to give any service providers you work with standing instructions to make text searchable where text is indi- cated or available. Third, determine how the search engine within your document review platform works. Search engines are not neutral in the sense that each one has been programmed to work and return results in a certain way. This is a search bias and it is advisable to understand how those biases operate and whether your searching strategy needs to change as a result. For example, in many data- bases containing law, the newest results are presented first. Usually, that is not a problem, and we adjust our review of the results accordingly. However, one can imagine a situation in which the newest results (at a local court), are not as important as those from an older but more persuasive authority (for example, a Supreme Court of Canada decision). In litigation support databases, search engines can affect the presentation of results, usually in the context of the order in which results are returned. Understand how the search engine returns results and make any adjust- ments to your search strategy that may be necessary to offset the bias. Understanding the context of your search helps you design appropri- ate searches and validate your search results. Now, check your search tool and determine whether it offers a larger range of functionality than keyword and Boolean searching. Some search tools offer fuzzy searching and thesaur- us-based searching. These features can enhance searches. Determine as well whether you need a tool with advanced search analytics that can recognize related concepts. Consider this: using the keyword "dog" will turn up only items in which that specific word is used. However, in a case about "dog," relevant documents may also contain the terms: poodle, dachs- hund, canine, puppy, and Rover, as well as the related words "walk" and "bone." Such documents would not appear in any search using the keyword "dog" unless the tool has functionality, such as word- or concept-clustering or thesaur- us-based features that would also return www.CANADIAN Lawyermag.com M A RCH 2012 25 ntitled-2 1 12-02-07 6:27 PM those documents. I use this example to show both the limitations of rely- ing solely on keywords, and to prompt inquiry into what other search func- tionality may be available or required. Finally, do a quality assurance check on your search results. Do both a quali- tative (testing related concepts) and a quantitative (testing a certain propor- tion of the remaining records) check to validate your search. Check a sample of the records not returned in search to verify that nothing was inadvertently omitted. Take good notes throughout your search, or save system reports, so that you can rely on those if ever your search results are challenged. 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. REASON #3 There's no more stres ba a b ckups, ss, security, or stress about or viru ruses