How to Get Flawless Productions Every Time: eDiscovery Production Checklist

Reveal
Contact

Ipro Tech

I’ve heard stories like this from attorneys and paralegals more than once: opposing counsel sends a large production of documents in a single PDF. I’ve even heard a version where the production was sent with all of the emails in one PDF, the email attachments in a second PDF, and none of the metadata was sent at all.

Obviously, the solution for managing something like this isn’t a wild conglomeration of monitors stacked up in the attempt to give reviewers a clear view of everything in that never-ending PDF (plus, as this week’s eDiscovery Blues™ comic reminds us, it’s a fire hazard).

So what can you do?

Rule 34 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) establishes the guidelines for producing Electronically Stored Information (ESI). It states that productions must be put into “a reasonably usable form,” and that the requesting party:

  • Must describe with reasonable particularity each item or category of items to be inspected;
  • Must specify a reasonable time, place, and manner for the inspection and for performing the related acts; and
  • May specify the form or forms in which electronically stored information is to be produced.

In other words, “To get what you want, you have to ask for it.”

Use this eDiscovery Production Checklist to ensure productions are better than “reasonably usable” every time.

eDiscovery Production Format Checklist:

⇒ Documents should be produced as black & white TIFF images at 300 dpi named with the unique Bates number for that page.

⇒ ESI that cannot render to useable TIFF images (e.g. Spreadsheets, Presentations, Video files, Audio files, etc.) should be produced in native format, named with a unique Bates number and corresponding Bates-numbered TIFF image placeholder.

⇒ Scanned paper documents should be produced with logical unitization (i.e. distinct documents should not be merged into a single record, and single documents should not be split into multiple records).

⇒ Extracted text for all non-redacted electronic files containing searchable text should be produced, and all non-searchable or redacted files should be OCR’d. Native files should contain the text of the document and not the OCR version of the TIFF image placeholder.

⇒ Produced documents, images, and placeholders should include sequential Bates numbering, with prefixes consistent throughout all documents.

⇒ Extracted metadata should be produced, including the following fields:

Field Name Description
BegBates The unique document number associated with the first page of a document.
EndBates The unique document number associated with the last page of a document.
ParentBates The unique beginning document number of the parent document
BegAttach Bates number of first family member (parent)
EndAttach Bates number of last family member
AttachBates Bates number listing of all attachments in the family separated by a comma
PageCount Page count for a document.
Custodian The custodian of a document (if applicable).
From Full email address of Sender
To Full email address of Recipient(s) separated by semicolon
CC Full email address of Carbon copy recipient(s) separated by semi colon
BCC Full email address of Blind carbon copy recipient(s) separated by semi colon
Subject Email subject.
SentDateTime The date and time a document was sent (UTC).
ReceivedDateTime The date and time a document was received (UTC).
MeetingStartDateTime Meeting start date/time in UTC
MeetingEndDateTime Meeting end date/time in UTC
Folder Original File Path
Author The display name of the author of a document
FileName The file name of a document.
Ext The file extension of a document.
FileSize The file size of a document (including embedded attachments).
DocTitle Email Subject or Efile Title
CreatedDateTime The date and time a document was created (UTC).
LastModifiedDateTime The date and time the document was last modified (UTC).
Hash The MD5 Hash value for the email including attachments.
NativeLinkPath The full path to a native copy of a document (if applicable).
TextLinkPath The full path to the text file of the document.
ConfidentialityDesignation The protective order designation (if any) assigned to the document

⇒ For paper documents, produce the following objective coding fields:

  • Beginning Bates number
  • Ending Bates number
  • Beginning attachment Bates number
  • Ending attachment Bates number
  • Source/custodian

⇒ Work with your eDiscovery Technology Vendor to ensure the highest quality productions

JD Supra Readers Choice Top Author 2020

[View source.]

Written by:

Reveal
Contact
more
less

PUBLISH YOUR CONTENT ON JD SUPRA NOW

  • Increased visibility
  • Actionable analytics
  • Ongoing guidance

Reveal on:

Reporters on Deadline

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
Custom Email Digest
- hide
- hide