E-Discovery and Litigation Data
Review
A document is responsive if it falls within the scope of a request for production, judged against the request language and any agreed limitations. Responsiveness is distinct from relevance and from admissibility.
Determinations are made during review against a written protocol.
Alternative Names:
Responsive, Responsiveness Determination
Why it Matters?
Responsiveness is narrower than relevance and both are narrower than what may be discoverable, and conflating them produces over-production or under-production. The written protocol is what holds a large review team to a consistent standard, and it should translate request language into decision rules reviewers can apply rather than restating the requests. Ambiguity in the protocol produces inconsistency no amount of quality control fixes.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
How does responsiveness differ from relevance?
What makes a review protocol effective?
