A categorical log groups withheld documents into defined categories with a description of each category, the basis for withholding, and the volume covered, rather than listing each document with author, recipient, date, and description.
It requires agreement or court approval in most cases.
Alternative Names:
Category Log, Categorical Log
Why it Matters?
Document-by-document logging is prohibitively expensive in large productions, where privileged material can run to tens of thousands of documents. Categorical logging addresses that, and courts increasingly permit it for defined categories such as communications with outside counsel during a stated period. Negotiating the approach at the Rule 26(f) conference is far easier than seeking relief after the logging cost has been incurred.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
When is a categorical log permitted?
Why negotiate the format early?
