Document reviews are deceptively complicated. In theory, the other side serves a document request, you search your documents, have attorneys review the documents you identified and your vendor produces the materials responsive to the request. In practice, document review can be a trap for the unwary.

Leaving aside the complications created by immense amounts of computer-generated data, document review can quickly devolve into squabbles with adversaries and a morass of mistakes. Many of the mistakes that fill the pages of casebooks can be avoided by:

  • Coming to an agreement with opposing counsel early as to how document discovery will be handled
  • Documenting your search and review procedures
  • Checking the accuracy of your results and supervising your vendors

Agreements with opposing counsel

Most discovery disputes can be nipped in the bud by reaching an agreement with the other side about methods for identifying and producing documents, as well as dealing with foreseeable hiccups in the process. This type of coordination is not just recommended by the Sedona Conference and other commentators, it is required by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and state procedural codes.