Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers ediscovery processing and review software (see article below), a digital recorder, an office suite for iPad compatible with Microsoft Office, an iPad task management app, and a secure online message service. Don't miss the next issue.
A Single Software Universe for Your Discovery Tasks
Like the TV show Fringe, ediscovery seems to take place in (at least) two parallel universes. Ediscovery service providers and internal litigation support teams use one or more products to cull duplicate and irrelevant documents from raw electronic discovery material. Then they load the remaining documents into an entirely different product for review by litigation teams. This split software universe results in more complexity — multiple vendors, dual learning curves, file format incompatibilities, and data lost, misplaced, or mislabeled when moving among programs. Not to mention the likelihood of higher costs, which you may find increasingly difficult to pass along to penny pinching clients. A new version of an ediscovery product aims to bring these two universes together.
NeedleFinder 4.3 … in One Sentence
Equivalent DATA's NeedleFinder 4.3 is a cloud-based integrated "end to end" system for ediscovery processing and document review.
The Killer Feature
NeedleFinder moves discovery material through a two-step process of initial culling and preparation (commonly referred to as "processing") followed by review. In other words, it eliminates the need to create a load file because all the discovery data remains in the same system.
When you've culled the documents down to a review set, a single click on the "Send Documents to Review" button moves them to the Review module of the system. You also use NeedleFinder to produce documents for opposing counsel and set aside privileged documents. NeedleFinder accommodates native files, or you can use common image formats such as PDF and TIFF.
Other Notable Features
The father of the iPod Jon Rubinstein dissed the idea of integrating an iPod into what became the iPhone before leaving Apple in 2006, saying "Is there a toaster that also knows how to brew coffee?" History has proved him wrong about integrated products. NeedleFinder seeks to offer the same functionality as single-function competitors.
For example, the new version of NeedleFinder offers a more robust Analysis module for initial processing. The search and culling tools use information extracted from document metadata to expedite the process of eliminating irrelevant and setting aside privileged documents. NeedleFinder includes a tool that enables you to view all document custodians' direct or indirect email threads. You can include or remove duplicate documents, attachments, and email threads.
NeedleFinder's Review module includes the expected panoply of tools. You can apply Bates stamps and issue tags, redact, and filter documents by custodian, date range, file type, search terms, tags, document status, and more. You can save searches for upcoming depositions and other routine tasks.
In additional to these core functions, the Review module also includes features that facilitate team document review such as creating document review batches, setting priorities, and assigning documents to individual reviewers or groups. You can also set documents as public or private, and designate functionality at the reviewer level, as well as monitor reviewer productivity, including documents per hour, hours logged, and documents reviewed.
What Else Should You Know?
If your client also has paper documents, Equivalent DATA can scan them for you and place them into your NeedleFinder account, which takes the one-stop-shopping concept even further. NeedleFinder works in all modern web browsers. The company offers pay-as-you-go pricing. Learn more about NeedleFinder 4.3.
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