Electronic Data Discovery

Crucial evidence may not only lie in hard copy documents, it may be hidden among the thousand of email messages, spreadsheets, or word processing documents generated as part of day-to-day business. This is where electronic discovery becomes a necessity. Attorneys today are faced with a new world of discoverable information – email messages, word processing documents, spreadsheets, and other computer files produced, created and stored electronically. As a result, courts have increasingly recognized the importance of electronic discovery – the collection, processing, review and production of electronic documents – for resolution of important investigations and litigation matters.

The last few years have seen a dramatic explosion in electronic information exchange. Over 99% of all documents are created and stored electronically. E-mail, spreadsheets, word processing documents, voice mail messages, and databases are just a few examples of the types of files that could have bearing on the outcome of a case. These documents may exist on corporate e-mail servers, network servers, backup tapes, home computers, or PDAs. As a result, the discovery and production of such documents poses a huge challenge to legal teams. Outsource2Experts has developed cost effective processes to review large volumes of data in their native format, eliminating the expense of converting the irrelevant data.

Today attorneys find themselves deluged with new volumes of discoverable information, all electronically created and stored. Beyond paper files pertinent to a case, now e-mail messages, computer files, spreadsheets, word processing documents and all attachments must be considered when preparing for a case. At times multiple hard drives must be retrieved and searched.

Due to the volume of electronic information, the courts have recognized how critical electronic discovery is to successfully navigating through a case. From collecting and reviewing data through electronic document production, effective management of your electronic information is critical to any Firm’s success moving forward. Your goal is to win. Our goal is to help you to do just that.

The discovery of electronic documents is a highly-important, emerging trend in litigation. While the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and parallel state rules have long included electronic files in their definitions of "documents" subject to discovery, discovery of such e-documents has become evermore significant as businesses increasingly utilize e-documents and e-mail in their activities. Several high-profile, headline-grabbing cases have shown that e-documents, and the e-discovery process, can have a significant impact on the course and outcome of litigation.

The process of converting electronic documents (application files) and e-mail into a standard graphical file format (PDF or TIFF), for easy viewing or printing to paper, and extracting all of the text for full-text searching. The images and text data can then be imported into any of the standard litigation support software packages or repositories, for use in discovery.

Outsource2Experts is manned by industry experts with backgrounds in database management, electronic discovery, and litigation support. They include Project Managers expert in collection, validation, exception identification, EDD, data hosting, scanning and coding.

If you are looking for an outsource EDD partner or assistance with overflow work Outsource2Experts can assist with your large complex Electronic Data Discovery projects. We can assist in the conversion of emails, attachments and electronic files. Outsource2Experts will provide the images and text along with load files for all the major litigation support applications. Outsource2Experts has developed powerful electronic discovery production tools.
The range of legal processes that have been effectively outsourced by large law firms in the US and UK include legal transcription, database creation and maintenance, scanning and indexing evidence, document coding, document review and annotation, document processing and management, creation of forms and precedents, document drafting, legal research and patent drafting. The majority of outsourced work is in the areas of complex litigation, mergers and acquisitions, insolvency, patents and compliance.

Services

When you work with Outsource2Experts, you benefit from its technological strength and unparalleled service throughout all stages of the e-discovery process. From the initial collection of your electronic data to the final production of your relevant and responsive documents, Outsource2Experts will work directly with you to give you comfort and confidence each step of the way.

Outsource2Experts Conversion service provides fast, accurate, affordable file conversion to a common, searchable format. Our process takes electronic files in multiple formats on a variety of media, culls redundant or superfluous records and converts the remaining files into TIFF or native file formats.
Upon receipt of the electronic documents, Outsource2Experts will provide you with a comprehensive overview of the types of documents that are to be processed and liaise closely with you to ensure that the meta data that you receive is in accordance with your requirements.
Compressed Files - Outsource2Experts will process compressed file types such as: ZIP, TAR, JAR, and WAR. Each file within the compressed file is processed and its link to the container file is reported.

De-Duplication - Outsource2Experts can exclude files from processing based on matching meta-data. Duplicate files are reported, and if they are email attachments, embedded or from a compressed file, their association to the parent document is also reported.

E-Mail - Outsource2Experts processes most email types, including Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes. All text and meta-data are retrieved, while maintaining the linkage between emails and attached files. All individual attached files are processed and reported separately while maintaining their link back to the original email. If an electronically numbered paper copy is requested, the corresponding documents will be numbered and printed in their original sequence, with the attached files noted and assembled accordingly. Documents that cannot be printed are detailed in an exception report that identifies the original email.

Embedded Files – Rich Text Files, Microsoft Word Documents, Outlook Messages and other file types may have files embedded within them. Information contained in these files is not made available by simply printing or converting these documents. Embedded files need to be detected and processed, and their link to the container file maintained. In some cases there may be many levels of files inside files that require tracking and conversion. Our document conversion software processes embedded files in a logical manner and maintains the link to the parent or container file.

Meta-Data - Outsource2Experts can provide all meta-data retrieved or only the specific meta-data needed. Text and meta-data are provided in the required format. Outsource2Experts extracts all text from the application files and e-mail, along with the ‘meta-data’ of each file, and creates a database load file.
Application Files: All files that are created by using a software program. These files contain the actual information formatted for that specific program. Examples include Excel® spreadsheets, Word® or WordPerfect® documents, and Adobe® PDF files.

Meta-data: The information associated with an application file’s data elements or attributes. Typically, this includes file name, creation date, user name, file location, etc.

Text Extraction: The process of removing all text from non-graphical application files or e-mail, for use in a full-text search database. E-mail text can be further segregated into fields, such as author, recipient, date, subject, etc.
E-mail: Software programs such as Outlook®, Outlook Express®, Lotus Notes®, cc:mail® and eudora®, store all e-mail in large ‘application files’. The e-mail can be converted to an image (PDF or TIFF format) or printed to paper. All of the text can be extracted and imported into a database with fields, such as author, recipient, cc, date, subject, body of e-mail, etc. All attachments are also converted and linked to the original e-mail.
E-mail, application files and graphic files are converted into a single, easy to use image format, and branded with a production number or a confidential designation.

The image files and database load file can be easily imported into any major litigation support software programs, such as Concordance® and Summation®. The images can be printed with slip-sheets between documents, with custom footer information, such as a production number or a confidential designation.

Effective Data Capture- Outsource2Experts captures and index all text and relevant metadata to ensure fast, effective document search and retrieval. We also extract the contents of all ZIP files and email attachments and maintain parent/child relationships between related documents.
Microsoft Excel – Customized excel file processing. Rows and columns expanded to avoid data being obscured.
Error Logs

Upon completion of each project, Outsource2Experts will produce an Error log when necessary which will provide explanations of inconsistencies and files which could not be produced. Common errors include encrypted files, sound or video clips which cannot be converted. Although these files cannot be tiffed, meta-data is extracted and these files can be segregated and provided on their own media in native format by request.

Advantages

• Fast turnaround and high quality
• Affordable pricing and substantial savings
• Support for all common file types and media formats including Lotus Notes, Microsoft® Office including Outlook, Adobe® Acrobat®, text, HTML and ZIP files
• Expert project management and consulting
• Extracts data from any source

Electronic Data Discovery Process

Outsource2Experts can assist with any of the following Electronic Discovery processes.

* File Inventory/Selection -The first step in any e-discovery project should be an accurate inventory of the files contained within the media. Our tools allow you to see what data is relevant to your case and necessary to produce. We can provide inventories to you as digital files.

* Culling & De-duplication - The process of reducing the volume of electronically stored data using sorting and filtering of various information such as source, file types, dates, key words and concepts.

* Full Text - Outsource2Experts makes the full text of many types of electronic documents available for you to search. Because document text is read directly during processing, full-text output doesn't suffer from the errors of interpretation that characterize OCR output.

* Data Fields - Electronic discovery processing can output data to fields that you specify. Available data includes file names, creation dates, email recipients, and "metadata" such as document sensitivity, keywords, title, and author. Outsource2Experts processing can also output hyperlinks for your original files. While electronic discovery processing can't match some aspects of traditional coding, its data fields provide useful information and can help you to identify documents that warrant traditional coding.

Litigation Coding

Outsource2Experts extensive experience in legal document coding protocols allows us to work with you to develop your own critical objective fields and data. Outsource2Experts detailed methodologies are the cornerstone of our processes and procedures and they provide you with a fail-safe guarantee as to how we manage your important materials. Outsource2Experts have been able to ensure that our operators maximize throughput ensuring fast turnaround times for coding. Outsource2Experts coding practices are designed to ensure the highest levels of accuracy and consistency with your coded data.

Document Coding or Indexing

The process of cataloging or indexing documents so as to be easily retrieved, sorted, reviewed, or prioritized. High quality coding protocols are built on a framework of effective design, standardized conventions, highly trained coders, appropriate technology and multiple levels of quality control.

Locating a key fact in a matter of seconds from volumes of documents requires an expertly coded litigation database. To guarantee accuracy and expedite database assembly, Outsource2Experts can capture date, file type and limited issues at scan time for an extensive data set that contains all key facts. Our comprehensive coding service includes:

• Data Capture
• Determination of Physical or Logical Document Breaks
• Optical Character Recognition
• Bibliographic Coding
• In-Text Coding

Data Capture -Ever increasing case loads require efficiency be maximized at every level. At Outsource2Experts, we can save valuable time by capturing data during the imaging process. Simultaneously, this data can be objectively coded for delivery into a fielded database. Depending on your instruction, we then enhance the database by performing additional bibliographic and in-text coding.

Determination of Physical or Logical Document- Multi-page documents residing in electronic form can easily become problematic if not properly organized. Outsource2Experts unitizes these document types within your document population according to the search parameters you specify. Throughout the coding process, Outsource2Experts staff uses strict rules to assign document boundaries in order to perform logical document unitization. If a large number of batched document types exist such as a set of manuals, we will set document boundaries per your instruction for the most efficient use of these documents within your database.

Optical Character Recognition -In order to search the text within imaged files, it is necessary to convert these files into readable text. Outsource2Experts uses optical character recognition (OCR) to convert this imaged text into computer readable ASCII text. This important step enables you to search all of your documents for key words or phrases, giving you a more efficient and powerful litigation database. Our experienced Electronic Data Discovery team takes the steps necessary during the imaging process to obtain the best possible capture of the original document in order to later conduct a successful OCR conversion.

Bibliographic Coding - Locating important facts about a document’s origin can be time consuming and frustrating. Outsource2Experts uses bibliographic coding techniques to help expedite your sort and review process. We capture the creation date, author, recipients, document type, document title, signature and organization of origin. Based on your needs, fields can be added or deleted. We can also customize your database with codes that apply specifically to your case.

In-Text Coding -Finding multiple references of a name or organization within your document population can help you build a more effective case. At Outsource2Experts, we use in-text coding to extrapolate this data for rapid sourcing of every reference. Names of individuals and organizations along with other key words or phrases within the body of each document are coded based on your instruction.

Many times data and names are found in various formats (i.e. John Smith, Mr. Smith or John A. Smith) within the same document population. At your discretion, Outsource2Experts uses data and name normalization procedures to uniformly assign the same reference throughout the database. This process guarantees optimal database search capabilities with no reference overlooked.

Subjective Coding – Coding documents based on subjective interpretation, rather than the verbatim capture of words or terms. The subjects may be represented in shorthand “code” form to facilitate searching, sorting and reporting.

A field is a single piece of information about a document in the database. The following are examples of fields in a typical litigation support database:

• Begin & End Bates
• Document Date
• Document Type
• Name of Author / Recipient / CC with Organization details
• Document Source
• Document Characteristics
• Begin & End Attachment Ranges
Outsource2Experts has created databases for a variety of clients and projects.
• Pharmaceutical Litigation
• Patent Litigation
• Insurance Litigation
• Labor/Employment Litigation
• Criminal Investigations
• Environmental Litigation
• Construction Litigation
• Anti-Trust Litigation
• Contract Disputes