Recently on Law.com, a short piece was featured on Judge Peck’s opinion concerning computer-assisted review. This is a hot topic that is receiving much attention! The speed and reduced cost of
working with a computer-assisted review is appealing to many, but has been tried by very few. Judge Peck’s opinion will likely continue the debate on this topic, keeping in-house and outside counsel focused on ways to expedite eDiscovery, and cut costs in cases with large volumes of data.
A few highlights that we thought you would be interested in:
- Judge Peck endorsed the use of computer-assisted review in the case of In Monique Da Silva Moore, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Publicis Groupe & MSL Group, Defendents, 11 Civ. 1279 (ALC)(AJP), five women plaintiffs are suing “one of the world’s ‘big four advertising conglomerates,’ and its United States public relations subsidiary,” for gender discrimination.
- Though the parties agreed to use computer-assisted review, “The Court recognizes that computer-assisted review is not a magic, Staples-Easy-Button, solution appropriate for all cases.”
- The use of this technology is “not a case of machine replacing humans: it is the process used and the interaction of man and machine that the courts need to examine.”
- Judge Peck endorsed the use of computer-assisted review in this gender discrimination matter. However, he believes that both the protocol he approved, as well as computer-assisted review in general may not be useful or appropriate in all cases.
- “What the Bar should take away from this Opinion is that computer-assisted review is an available tool and should be seriously considered for use in large-data-volume cases where it may save the producing party (or both parties) significant amounts of legal fees in document review.”
- Counsel must create and implement “an appropriate process, including use of available technology, with appropriate quality control testing…”
For more details from this article and for a link to Judge Peck’s full opinion, read Judge Peck Issues Opinion on Computer-Assisted Review.
