Technology Assisted Review (“TAR”) is often thought of as a tool primarily for large firms working with high document volumes, however TAR can be just as valuable for smaller firms that may have limited resources and budgets, as they often have to look for smarter ways to work to compete.
Today’s increasing volumes of information can make the discovery process both complicated, time consuming and costly – often outside of the capability of firms that cannot call upon many resources and big pockets.
By working smarter and embracing options like TAR, firms that may have limited resources can still work on document intensive matters, whilst also producing faster, cheaper and more accurate results than competitors that use more traditional methods.
For any ‘first timers’ TAR put simply, is when lawyers train the software in areas of relevance, with the computer using algorithms to learn these calls and applying the calls to a wider set of documents. It is an iterative process that continues with the lawyer reviewing further documents until they are happy with the results. TAR helps prioritise what we look at, allowing you to get to the most important information, whilst the ability to quickly remove irrelevant material.
How one lawyer used TAR to save thousands
An excellent example of the success of TAR is a matter I managed for a boutique New Zealand litigation firm, where using TAR enabled one lawyer to save their clients thousands of dollars.
We faced considerable time and cost pressures, together with the small issue of just one lawyer available to review 6.6 million documents !
We had to look at smarter options !
A traditional review of the documents was not going to be feasible, even after further culling of the documents. TAR was the obvious solution as it enabled the one solicitor to complete the discovery review quickly, cost effectively and accurately.
Using TAR enabled this law firm to successfully manage a matter that may have otherwise been too vast and costly for them to manage.
You can read the full case study here.
At least consider the use of Technology Assisted Review
If you are finding eDiscovery both challenging and expensive, then TAR could be your answer. The use of TAR can help level the playing field and enable smaller firms to compete with larger firms on matters with large document volumes.
Irrespective of the size of firm, we should all be looking at smarter, more efficient ways to tackle eDiscovery. An option that allow us to get to the most important information quicker and cheaper, whilst removing irrelevant material, surely cannot be a bad thing !
Obviously, TAR will not be right for every matter, as there are still some excellent methods to manage discovery efficiently. In saying that, TAR should at least be one of the options that you consider.
If you would like to know more about how Technology Assisted Review could help you, then do not hesitate to get in contact.
