Document review is the phase in which attorneys assess each document for whether it responds to discovery requests, whether it is privileged, and how it relates to case issues. Reviews typically proceed in passes, with a first-level responsiveness and privilege review followed by targeted second-level and quality control review.
Modern reviews are conducted in hosted platforms using search, analytics, threading, and machine learning to prioritize and reduce the population.
Alternative Names:
Doc Review, Responsiveness Review
Why it Matters?
Review consumes the majority of e-discovery spend, so every decision that reduces the reviewed population has direct budget consequences. It is also where privilege exposure concentrates, since a single missed privileged document can trigger waiver arguments. Consistency across reviewers is a persistent quality problem that analytics and sampling exist to manage.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
How is review cost controlled?
What is a second-level review?
