To TIFF or Not to TIFF

Posted on September 11, 2013 by Chris Bell

That is the question

If ESI could choose its own format, it would be native.

Maybe you’ve always TIFFed your legal eDiscovery productions and you don’t want to use another system. Maybe you don’t understand the difference between TIFF and native file formats, and you really don’t care because you’re not an IT specialist.

Here’s why file format matters:

• Use of native format cuts eDiscovery costs, which usually comprise the largest percentage of litigation expenses.
• Native files are automatically searchable, vs. TIFF, which are not.
• Native files include data not available on TIFF.

Takeaway:

Native saves you time and money and provides you with potentially case-changing electronic information.

Fabulous File Formats

OK, fight the temptation to let your eyes glaze over. Understanding the difference between documents formats will be important during 26(f) negotiations and requests for production.

A TIFF is a picture of your document. It is the oldest format for a scanned image, born in the 80s, like some of your staff. Since it is a picture, it cannot be searched unless text is extracted by Optical Character Recognition(OCR) and included as a separate file, called a load file.

Some metadata, such as the file creation date and time, can be preserved as TIFF tags in an additional load file, and searches must be run against all three files to find keyword matches and to get a picture of what data used to exist. Sounds cumbersome, time-consuming, and expensive? It is, but it’s probably the best game in town for paper documents. It is not optimal for Electronically Stored Information, which is multidimensional in nature.

A PDF is similar to a TIFF in that it is also a picture of your scanned document. PDFs are popular because they are viewable on almost any platform via a free reader, Adobe Acrobat. The metadata that can be embedded in a PDF is much more sophisticated than the metadata in TIFF extension tags, but still not as extensive as native files.

Native is a file format that preserves the file’s original format and includes metadata such as commentary, formulas, author, creation date, and creation time. It is automatically searchable. If ESI could choose its own format, it would be native.

Why Metadata Matters

Let’s take, for example, the subject of formulas. Why does it matter if you can’t see a formula? With a TIFFed Excel file, all you get is a column of numbers:

With a native file, it is possible to extract the formula to tell how those numbers were obtained.

So it would be immediately obvious that instead of:

=C1/AVERAGE(A1-A6)

The formula was in fact:

=C1/SUM(A1-A3)

Formulas offer important evidence and sometimes can be your case’s smoking gun. Don’t lose them to TIFFing.

OK, so you don’t want to miss outcome-changing information, and you want to save money, but you haven’t the faintest idea of how to draft a Request for Discovery for native files. Craig Ball provides an excellent example on his Ball In Your Court blog.

So why wouldn’t you go Native?

Since TIFF productions are static images, they can be a good choice if you don’t want to give the other side the advantages of natives. You can save the most money by doing a native discovery, reviewing for responsive docs in native, and then TIFFing only responsive docs and producing those.

Take a byte out of eDiscovery costs by avoiding unnecessary TIFFs. Call WarRoom Document Solutions to discover how to control your eDiscovery today.

And the winner is…

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Chris Bell

We are pleased to announce that Annette Tran is the winner of our “Get Social with WarRoom” contest. Congratulations, Annette!

She will receive a new Nexus 7 tablet, crowned “the king of the 7-inch tablets” by Wired magazine. It’s small enough to fit in your pocket, so it’s easy to take places, unlike certain other, larger tablets. It’s perfect for finishing that document on the way to the deposition or getting some work done in the backyard hammock.

We would like to thank everyone who participated in the contest. If you didn’t win, don’t be downhearted! We’ll be running another contest soon. Stay tuned to WarRoom’s Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+ pages!

Going Places, Going Strong: Dress for Success Power Walk 2013

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Chris Bell

Dress for Success Boston boutique

“I have nothing to wear!” is the shopping cry of fashionistas everywhere. Unlike those of us who are simply tired of the clothes we already own, many low-income women really don’t have anything to wear to a job interview. Without professional attire, they can’t get a job. Without a job, they can’t afford clothes.

Dress for Success solves this dilemma by providing disadvantaged women with the clothes and confidence they need to return to the workforce. From interview training to accessorized outfits, Dress for Success helps women help themselves.

The support doesn’t stop with an interview ensemble. The Dress for Success Professional Women’s Group program provides employed clients with the practical information and inspiration to achieve their own self-defined successes.

To make sure deserving women have access to the resources they need to succeed, Dress for Success is holding its Annual 5K Power Walk at Castle Island in South Boston on May 11 Continue reading →

Hosted Review: No Downtime or Downside

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Chris Bell

You’ve been looking forward to a night in with your special someone. You slipped into something more comfortable, made some popcorn, and snuggled up on the couch only to discover Netflix was down. And why? All because of another Amazon Web Services cloud outage.

Missing out on a movie is one thing. You could always listen to music, play a game or even talk to each other. But what happens when you and your legal team are trying to review documents on your public cloud and suddenly you can’t access your data? When your Electronically Stored Information (ESI) isn’t available, you lose billable hours, every legal team’s worst nightmare.

Not All Clouds Are Created Equal

In a public cloud, you share hard drive space with other companies. Sharing storage might work well enough for movie streaming or social networking, but it isn’t the most secure or defensible choice for your confidential litigation documents. With a private cloud to host your review, you gain the benefits of your own server without the costs.

A 99.99% service level agreement guarantees you 24×7 uptime, from any of your devices, anywhere in the world. In the event of a cloud malfunction, a backup cloud takes over, allowing you the same access to your data as before. Just as a generator is essential to the reliable running of a hospital, a dedicated server ensures the integrity and availability of your eDiscovery project.

Since you can access your data from the comfort of your own office or home, you probably won’t be visiting the physical location of your servers. Yet their geographic location is still an important consideration. Selecting an American data center to host your server avoids complications with foreign eDiscovery regulations.

Virtual Collaboration in Legal Review

When combined with a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) review tool, a private cloud provides you billable hours by increasing the efficiency of your team:

Access documents from any device, anywhere, 24×7.
Assign documents to pools of users, so any member of the team can finish a document and move on to the next. No more time wasted waiting for new assignments.
Control access levels of your legal team on a need-to-know basis, especially useful when sharing documents with expert witnesses.
Download documents without slowing other team members down.
Track the overall progress of the review.
Track the review status of individual documents, saving time by preventing multiple reviewing of the same document.
Share searches across the review.
Easily see and jump to linked documents, such as email attachments.
Read redacted text before it is permanently burned on.
Tag privileged documents.

With a hosted review, you benefit from the labor and cost efficiencies of the cloud without sacrificing access or security.

When preparing for litigation, you can’t afford downtime. Call WarRoom Document Solutions and discover the best dedicated review solution for your needs.

SaaS Up Your Data Collection

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Chris Bell

Back in the early days of eDiscovery, collecting Electronically Stored Information (ESI) from computers in a defensible manner could be quite costly. Forensic technicians charged $500/hour, and often traveled to many different locations to harvest the responsive data.

In 2013, on-site collections for electronic evidence aren’t usually necessary. A Software as a Service (SaaS) data collection bypasses expensive specialists and travel costs. Cloud collection pulls data remotely in a sound and defensible manner for a much more affordable price.

Preserve your data integrity

Simply by copying or moving a file, you can alter crucial information. Increasingly, courts are expecting unaltered electronic evidence to be produced. SaaS data collection prevents inadvertent file alteration. Avoid spoliation claims, sanctions, and adverse judgments with forensically sound remote data collection.

In addition to lowering your risk of benchslaps, remote data collection allows filtering by file types. SaaS filtration and de-duping in the collection stage of your discovery project defensibly decreases the cost and size of your eDiscovery work. Filtering also minimizes your risk of accidentally producing privileged information.

The right tool for the eDiscovery job

Cloud data collection takes some of the pressure off your IT department. SaaS means there is no installation, administration or maintenance of software or hardware adding to the IT workload. Also, while your internal IT department does an excellent job of meeting your company’s technology needs, collection in compliance with Justice Department practices is most likely outside the scope of their expertise.

Just as your IT department probably doesn’t know much about defensible data collection, IT backup programs weren’t designed to defensibly collect evidence. Employing backup technologies to collect your data is like using a slotted spoon to ladle soup – it takes forever and much of the data remains uncollected. A cloud-based eDiscovery collection tool provides time- and cost-efficient results.

Conducting a SaaS collection doesn’t require a degree in computer science. A data collection software wizard guides you through the process. It’s easier than a mail merge!

Anywhere, anytime, any device

Cloud equals convenience. A SaaS collection tool pulls data from laptops, desktops, servers, network shares, virtual machines and cloud servers. Collections can be performed at any time from anywhere in the world.

You have complete control over your data collection. Although your data custodian has the option of suggesting responsive files, you and your legal team make the ultimate decision about what data is pulled. Perform collections from any device with a web-browser. If you have a minute on the train, check your collection status from your smart phone or tablet.

Your data collection is accessible to you and your team by any device, but not to anyone else. We understand that your confidential information must remain just that. Your data is encrypted and stored in tamper evident containers. You can further increase your security by choosing strong passwords, changing them frequently, and disabling wireless and Bluetooth when not in use.

So, go ahead, miss the Nineties because music was better and retirement funds were flush. But don’t cling to outdated and expensive data collection methods. Maximize cost savings, time savings and your productivity with SaaS collection.

Call us at 1-855-WAR-ROOM to find out which cloud data collection method best meets your needs.

Don’t Jump the Gun with Predictive Coding

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Chris Bell

Global Aerospace Inc. et al., v. Landow Aviation, L.P. dba Dulles Jet Center, et al.

Results are in from the first case where a judge mandated the use of predictive coding, despite initial objections from the plaintiff that the technology is not as effective as human review. The Wall Street Journal Law Blog reports predictive coding used in the case found 81% of relevant documents.

The ABA Journal compares these results to the 60% accuracy rate for human reviewers estimated by a 2011 Richmond Journal of Law & Technology article. Some claim the comparison proves the superiority not only of this particular review technique, but also of artificial intelligence over lawyers.

This conclusion might be jumping the smoking gun, literally. What if the most relevant data is contained in the missing 19%? Initially, the Global plaintiff argued that all relevant evidence must be produced, which is, after all, the goal of defensible discovery.

Predictive coding, also known as Technology Assisted Review (TAR) and Computer Assisted Review (CAR), is a very new review method. Contrary to what eDiscovery headlines may lead you to believe, TAR is currently used by only a small portion of the legal community. Industry standards are not set, and there is little agreement about when and how it should be used. This disagreement can lead to expensive and often futile negotiations with opposing counsel.

When predictive coding is employed, a team of highly-paid human experts, specializing in statistics, law and technology, must train the computer in what is relevant by coding a sampling of documents (in the Global case, 5,000 documents). The coding is then applied to the rest of the documents to determine relevancy. If the initial sample is not correctly coded, the results will be drastically inaccurate. Therefore, human intelligence is still essential to the process.

In addition, Global is a single case with a relatively small sample size. Even if predictive coding continues to provide consistent, reliable results, it is not a one-size-fits-all approach for document review. If it is widely adopted in the future, predictive coding will never replace other search technologies or human intelligence; it will simply be another option in your litigation toolkit.

In most cases, a carefully planned discovery process combined with a multimodal search approach yields the most accurate results for the least cost.

Drawbacks of predictive coding

Small mistakes early in coding can create false positives and miss relevant documents.
Accidental disclosure of privileged information is more likely.
For the sake of transparency, CAR/TAR/predictive coding often requires disclosure of all non-privileged training documents and coding to opposing counsel, regardless of relevancy. How much do you want opposing counsel to know?
The cost of predictive coding/CAR/TAR negotiations can cancel out any savings the approach might otherwise generate.
Predictive coding/CAR/TAR only makes sense for extremely large sets of ESI. How big is your data?

Technology should be used to reduce review volume, not to replace human review. Human intelligence cannot be fully automated. A concept-clustering search approach combines the best of human and artificial intelligence.

Contact a WarRoom litigation support consultant to help you determine the strategy that minimizes your risk and cost.

Don’t Forget About Paper Discovery

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Chris Bell

Even as electronic data grows, so does our use of paper. According to The Economist, the average American uses the paper equivalent of almost six 40-foot trees per year. The EPA reports that the average office worker generates approximately 2 pounds of paper and paper products every day. We’re a long way from realizing the paperless office.

Since paper plays such an important role in business operations, make sure you don’t forget about it when planning your litigation discovery. If you fail to produce relevant paper evidence simply because it wasn’t integrated with your eDiscovery tool, you could face sanctions or even adverse inferences. Make sure that your paper discovery process is defensible.

There are some advantages to a traditional, paper-based approach to discovery. Analysis of paper documents can make it easier to conceptualize your case and develop strategy because paper documents are sometimes more organized than their electronic counterparts. Better understanding your discoverable evidence and your case early on saves you money down the road.

No Document Left Behind

In order for a paper discovery approach to be useful, scanned or copied documents must be clear and legible, and meet your deadlines. Look for a legal document service that conducts page-by-page quality assurance and provides rush delivery. Your litigation document needs can be quite complicated, and should not be handled by the average local print shop. From Bates stamping to specialized tabs, legal document production requires a litigation support provider who understands court requirements.

Not only do your documents need to be error-free, they also must be secure. Almost all discoverable evidence is confidential in nature, and much of it is single source. If it is lost or destroyed, it can’t be replaced. Some evidence is so sensitive it is only available for processing for a short time. Original and confidential documents must be brought to a secure facility and processed as quickly as possible.

Perhaps you’ve received a disc of evidence prepped for Concordance or Summation, but you prefer to use a paper-based discovery approach. Entrust your blowback to a qualified litigation support team. Your litigation support provider converts Electronically Stored Information (ESI) back into paper by returning single file pages to a multipage format, in the correct order. You don’t waste time printing each page individually and the end result is a reviewable paper document.

Evidence doesn’t always fit conveniently in an 11” by 17” rectangle. Most copiers aren’t large enough to accommodate oversize maps or building plans. When you have large documents, call a legal document service with the equipment necessary to professionally handle your scanning or copying job.

Traditional Discovery Isn’t Just About Scanning

Document scanning, copying and printing are vital components of your litigation preparation, but don’t stop there. While paper discovery has some advantages, it can also be time consuming. From electronic labeling to Optical Character Recognition (OCR), technology helps you tame your paper discovery.

Review is the most expensive aspect of discovery, but there are ways to minimize cost, even when taking a traditional discovery approach. OCR allows scanned images of text to be recognized as text and thereby searchable and editable. Once a document is OCRed, it can be indexed and tagged, saving you money in review time. Bibliographical coding for “to” “from” and “bcc” fields allows a searching capacity identical to an eDiscovery tool. Coding large volumes costs just pennies on the document, and cuts down on the overall size and cost of your discovery project by making searches more efficient.

Scanned documents can be uploaded to any document database, including Concordance. If you choose to use an eDiscovery review solution, your uploaded paper documents can be reviewed with the same software tool as your electronic documents, integrating your paper and electronic evidence for more efficient analysis. Hosted review ensures a safe and defensible storage location for your discoverable data.

WarRoom Document Solutions offers full-service traditional and electronic discovery. Cost varies depending on the size and scope of your project. Our litigation support team works with you to assess your project’s needs. Our 19 years in the legal document industry allows us to give you an accurate cost estimate, which helps prevent discovery sticker shock.

Call us at 1-855-WarRoom today to learn how our Boston or Providence litigation support consultants can help with your paper or electronic discovery needs.

WarRoom Document Solutions Launches New Website

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Chris Bell

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Boston, MA – WarRoom Document Solutions, a complete litigation support provider, announced today the launch of its new website, with exciting features that allow customers to better connect with WarRoom.

The new design is part of the company’s efforts to demystify the eDiscovery process and to provide full-service litigation support. Attractive artwork guides the customer through the litigation process and shows how WarRoom can assist at every step of the way, from data collection to production.

The new blog answers frequently asked customer questions, provides company updates, and discusses litigation news. A calendar showcases exciting local and national industry events. Links to social media make it easy to follow WarRoom on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. The 1-855-WarRoom number on the Home page automatically dials WarRoom, when clicked by customers on mobile devices.

About WarRoom Document Solutions

WarRoom Document Solutions is currently headquartered in Boston, MA, where we opened in 1999. In 2001, our Providence, RI location was opened and supported by the legal community with open arms. Between these strategically positioned locations, WarRoom is able to offer a level of service and turnaround time that is second to none.

Our Electronic Discovery department is efficient in processing sizeable projects locally for a faster more reliable turnaround.

WarRoom’s experience in supporting the legal process gives our clients the resources they need to succeed. From data collection, production and review, to courtroom presentation, we utilize the most current legal technologies available.

Whether you have a small color reproduction, or a litigation hold to be implemented with data collection, filtering, processing and hosting for review; WarRoom is here for you.

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If you’d like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Chris Bell or Chris Cavin, the owners of WarRoom Document Solutions, please call Catherine Cerasuolo at 1-855-WarRoom.

Invest in Litigation Readiness

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Chris Bell

The digital universe doubles every two years, according to a December 2012 report from International Data Corporation. Companies are legally responsible for the growing Electronically Stored Information (ESI) created during business operations. In the event of a lawsuit, your business must be able to find and produce case relevant information.

Adopting an eDiscovery tool, either on your system or as a Software as a Service (SaaS), prepares your company for potential litigation and provides you with an edge at the earliest stages of your lawsuit.

One of the most expensive parts of litigation is identifying the relevant evidence in the massive amounts of stored data, and pulling that evidence from electronic storage without reducing or destroying it. A recent controversial Forbes article claimed that the cost to process, review, cull and produce a single gigabyte of data exceeds $7,000, but defensible eDiscovery doesn’t have to be so expensive. Choosing the right tool dramatically lowers costs, without sacrificing quality.

Leverage Technology to Reduce Costs

A rigorous analytics program is essential to discovering all evidence. Although there has been a lot of buzz about predictive coding, it has some disadvantages, including the risk of revealing privileged data and the over-production of non-relevant data. While simple keyword searching may not be sufficient to meet your discovery needs, a tool that employs concept clustering and one-click-entity searching will give you comprehensive, defensible results.

Your ideal software should be easy to use, so time isn’t lost learning a complicated system. Customized access levels keep team members on task and ensure document security. Cross browser compatibility allows easy access on all devices, maximizing your efficiency.

Having an eDiscovery tool in place before the 26(f) “meet and confer” session of your lawsuit gives you an advantage over your opponent, because you will already have a good understanding of your discoverable data. To maximize the benefits of a well-prepared 26(f) conference, make sure a member of your negotiation team understands the nuances of various data formats. Don’t go into a 26(f) session blind.

While eDiscovery software has many benefits, it should not be confused with do-it-yourself discovery. Implementing the right technology early enough in your litigation lifecycle significantly lowers cost, partially by cutting down on the amount of data the legal team must evaluate. However, the software cannot actually perform the review. Only a lawyer can review evidence.

Take Control of Your eDiscovery

Producing your own native files using eDiscovery software (as opposed to ordering them from a litigation support team) can save you $300/gigabyte. Every case is different, but if your production is 10, 15, or even 20 gigs, that’s a sizable savings. In addition to reducing costs, the right eDiscovery tool allows you greater control over your own productions. Prep a production for downloading, and decide what metadata is released.

Don’t worry that you’re on your own if you decide to implement an eDiscovery software solution. WarRoom Document Solutions offers hosting, training and support in all of our software products, and our Boston and Providence litigation support teams provide whatever additional customized services you require, at any point in your case, regardless of whether you are using our software. Both our software products and our service are flexible; we adapt to your needs.

Put our 19 years of industry experience to work for you; let us help you become litigation ready. Decrease your cost and risk of sanctions while increasing your chances for a favorable outcome. For advice about which software would best meet your regulatory and business requirements, call us at 1-855-WarRoom.