First-pass review applies responsiveness and privilege determinations to the review population, along with any issue coding. It is usually performed by contract or junior attorneys working from a review protocol.
Documents flagged for privilege or significance route to second-level review.
Alternative Names:
First Level Review, Initial Review
Why it Matters?
First-pass quality determines everything downstream, and consistency across reviewers is the recurring problem. Reviewers applying the same protocol reach different conclusions on borderline documents, which produces inconsistent productions and unreliable issue coding. Calibration sessions at the outset, ongoing overturn rate monitoring, and a clear escalation path for ambiguous documents are what hold quality steady across a large team.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Who performs first-pass review?
What most affects first-pass quality?
