The Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) is a framework designed to help organisations understand and manage the e-discovery process. The review stage is a critical part of the EDRM, and involves the evaluation of electronic documents and data to determine their relevance, responsiveness, and privilege.
During the review stage, legal teams and other stakeholders analyse the electronic documents and data that have been collected during the e-discovery process. This can involve a range of tasks, including:
- Identifying potentially relevant documents and data: Review teams will typically use search tools and other techniques to identify documents and data that may be relevant to the legal matter at hand.
- Assessing relevance and responsiveness: Once potentially relevant documents have been identified, they will be reviewed to determine whether they are actually relevant and responsive to the legal matter. This can involve evaluating factors such as the document’s date, author, and subject matter.
- Evaluating privilege: Review teams will also need to determine whether any of the documents or data are privileged, meaning that they are protected from disclosure under attorney-client privilege or other legal privileges.
- Preparing for production: Finally, the review stage may involve preparing the documents and data for production to the opposing party. This can include redacting privileged information and ensuring that the documents and data are in a format that can be easily shared with the opposing party.
Overall, the review stage is a critical part of the e-discovery process, as it helps to ensure that only relevant and responsive documents and data are produced, while also protecting privileged information. Effective review strategies can help organisations reduce the time and cost involved in e-discovery, while also improving the overall quality of the legal process.
