In a previous blog post we talked about OCR.  OCR is a processing option which allows the end user to load TXT into their database in order to perform text searches on their documents.  When documents are processed for OCR, the software program being used “looks” at the pages using its computer eyes and searches for characters (letters, numbers, symbols) and saves those characters to a TXT file.  Then, the TXT file is loaded into the database and linked to the image that was OCR’d. 

When processing native files, we can forgo some of the OCR processing and extract the text that already exists in the native files.  Huh?!  Ok, let’s break this down.  Some files are text based, like Word, Word Perfect, Emails, and Excel.  This means that these files can be edited to contain more or less text, but because they do contain text, they are considered text based.  During electronic document discovery software processing (EDD software processing), the software performs the metadata extraction, load file creation, and text extraction. 

Let’s think of native files with extractable text as a jar of jellybeans.  Still with me?  Good!  And each jellybean is a word, letter, number, or symbol.  When the eDiscovery software processes each jar of jellybeans (native file with extractable text), each jellybean is duplicated and saved to a new jar, aka a TXT file.  Now, each TXT file contains the same amount of jellybeans as the original native file.  The bonus to this process is that each jellybean is a complete replica to the original jellybean in the jar original jar we processed.  The same goes for extracted text.  Since we are taking the words, letters, numbers, and symbols directly from the native file and copying the information to a TXT, the accuracy of the TXT file created is 100%.

Is there still a need to OCR since I’m processing native files?

Yes.  Some files are not text based and do not contain extractable text.  Scans and digital photographs are examples of files which do not contain extractable text.  Consider the when processing a PST file, your software may extract email files that have document scans as attachments to the emails.  These files are image files which do not have the ability to have text added or removed from the files, thus, they have no extractable text.  You end up with extracted native files, native load files, and extracted text files, but no OCR.  What do you do about the image files?  Well, you perform OCR on the not text based files.

It is important that your software is able to generate OCR for just the image files.  Let’s go back to our PST example that had a scanned document which was attached to an email.  Since the attached document does not have extracted text associated with it, the document is not searchable once loaded into the database.  Performing OCR on the image files will allow you to load the OCR TXT files into the database for searching.  Your software solution should allow you to OCR the image files, but keep the extracted text intact.

What other terms are you interested in discussing?  If you have any questions about this process, you can ask them via comment below.

Greetings Breezers!  I am frequently asked about PST files.  People know that PST files are everywhere, but what makes this type of file so special? How and why do PST files need to be handled differently?  Let’s take a look at what information could be housed in a PST file and how that information can be extracted if the PST file is processed with electronic discovery software.

Welcome!  I’ve been working with current and new Breezers on the topic of electronic discovery.  As I’m going through the tutorials, I am frequently asked to explain the difference between native files and image files.  There is definitely some overlap and distinct differences which makes it important on how you decide to process these files.  So, here is a breakdown of each file type.

Native files can be grouped into different categories such as word processing files, email, image files, graphic files, and so on.  Each of these categories is unique and the characteristics of the files within each category reflect how the files should be processed.  Files such as Word or Word Perfect are text based and this text can be extracted from the files.  Emails can be housed into email databases called mail stores, such as PST files.  These mail stores require the native application to open them so that the emails can be extracted.  Image files can either be created by converting one native file type to another (i.e. – Word to PDF conversion) or can be files saved from an external device such as a scanner or digital camera.

Though there are many different native file types, all native files are alike in that metadata is created when the files are created. Metadata is a record of attributes belonging to a specific file.  The metadata information that can be extracted from a file differs on the type of files you are processing.  These are a couple of examples of different metadata which differs between the two file formats: 

Word file	Extracted Email file
Date Created	Date Sent
Date Modified	To/From
Author	Subject

Metadata for image files becomes important when the PDF, JPG, TIF, etc was created at the custodian’s office.  Perhaps the metadata extracted from a contract in PDF form has a create date later than when the contract was supposedly executed.  This could underline an issue existing in your case.  Having this information could be critical.

What are your experiences with making processing/file handling determinations?  Do things like budget, electronic discovery software, and project size determine how these situations are handled in your firm?  I and other Breezers would love to hear your feedback!

EDD can seem like such a burdensome topic, believe me, I’ve been there.  There is so much information to take in.  I can’t tell you how many CLEs and/or “Lunch-N-Learns” I’ve attended and seen people leaving with question marks almost tattooed on their foreheads.  In my opinion, questions are nothing to be ashamed of.  I’m going to break down EDD one topic at a time to help alleviate the information overload EDD can often bring to a discussion.

For example, what does EDD even stand for?  I’ve seen this term defined two ways, either electronic data discovery or electronic digital discovery.  Either way it appears, we are talking about the same electronically stored information.  How this information is handled or mishandled can cost your firm major gains or losses in the lifetime of your case.

There are more than just definitions at play here.  While handling EDD, ESI, eDiscovery, electronic discovery, etc. there are methods and even hardware your firm should be aware of.  Simple pieces of hardware such write blockers can ensure that the evidence is handled properly.  Do you know what a pristine copy of your evidence is?  Do you know where to get one?  Who does your data collections?

At our August Dallas Chapter Women in eDiscovery meeting, the speaker gave a light-hearted presentation on “Pitfalls of Production”.  We had a chuckle at some of the outrageous productions and the appropriate, in the group’s opinion, repercussions given to the at fault counsel.  After the luncheon ended, I thought a little more about some of the examples and the situations.  How can other groups learn from these situations?  What information can I share to help get producing firms on the right track?

In the coming weeks, I plan on posting discussions on EDD productions; evidence handling; players in EDD productions and their roles; and true to “Skimming the Surface” form, I’ll post and discuss EDD terminology.  We also have guest bloggers teed up to join in on the discussion.  This is a really exciting time in the evolution of Breeze.  I’m am truly looking forward to posting more information to help streamline your process and help your firm gain the information and competitive advantage you need in this EDD world we litigate in.

In other instances, the DocID is simply the first Bates number of a document.  When a group of Bates numbered documents is loaded into the database, the information for the documents is linked based upon the first Bates number, which turns out to be the DocID.

After it’s all said and done, the DocID and BegDoc have similar functions in the database.  Knowing the difference between the two terms when discussing a project with your in-house litigation support specialist or outside vendor will help expedite your job.  The individual taking charge of your project might have other suggestions for what information should be used when assigning an image tag.  What are other suggestions you have?

Step 1 – Review

First, you will need to review your documents.  The review process can be done in a few different ways.  I have two favorite ways to approach this. You can load your imaged documents into a database or litigation support software.  Once the documents are in a database, then you can “mark” the pages which need to be redacted.  Another option is to image your documents and review the TIF/PDF files natively.  The second way is much more difficult to track without a database to support your reviewers.  I definitely recommend using a database product.

Step 2 – Redact

After you have decided which pages/documents need to be edited, you can use a variety of tools to redact the images.  In your litigation support database, you can use the markup tools to apply the redaction.  If you are reviewing the documents as TIF/PDF outside of a database, then you can use a Windows image editor or Adobe to redact the pages.  After the pages have been redacted, then you will need to save the images to your production folder.  When saving the redacted images for production, make sure that you have utilized any option to make the redaction permanent.  Typically, the redaction isn’t made permanent until this option has been selected.

Step 3 – Re-OCR

Now that your pages have been redacted you will need to perform a new OCR process on the edited image files.  This is a critical step in your production.  If the images are not OCR’d in their new redacted state, then the information that has been concealed on the images will still be viewable in the OCR files.  There are tools which will allow you to add OCR files to your new images or production image volumes.

Once this process has been completed, you should have a good production set.  Of course there are other things to consider when creating a production set.  Each of these steps take additional time to process and should be considered when establishing your workflow to make your production deadline.

• What format do I need to produce my documents in?  Do I need to create load files?
• Should I burn in a “Redacted” stamp into the new images?  Do I need to add new electronic bates stamps to my new images?
• How many pages am I going to need to OCR again?

Project Planning

When you are planning a project, whether the project has officially begun or the project is just a possibility, the first thing you need to ask is when will it need to be completed?  This will allow you to plan backwards.  Next, identify what you are dealing with – paper documents to be scanned, PDF files that need to be converted, eDocs that need to be converted.  The third thing you should consider is the end result of the job.  Do I need to Bates number?  OCR?  Create load files?  Am I producing in a certain format?  Last, identify the specifics such as beginning Bates number, output file types.

Time Management

I know that we all are super capable people.  If you’re reading this blog, then chances are that you have a desire to enhance your productivity.  The element of productivity that you have the most control over is time management.  If you have a half box of documents that need to be slipsheeted and scanned for a project that is due in a week, then get started early.  If you need to copy some images to the network, get started early.  If you have an assistant available to you, cross train them or delegate to them to have the project begin as soon as possible.  (I actually have an intern scanning for me as I type this post!)  The key to managing your time and increasing productivity is beginning early.

With the amount of information and resources available to Litigation Support professionals, the comfort level of project management is rising. With careful planning and time management, you will be able to tackle most projects as they are piled on your desk (or email or server).  Even though you have technology and processes on your side, you still need to have included time in your recipe for Project Planning Success.
What are your experiences?  If you’ve been in Litigation Support for any amount of time, then I know that you probably have some great stories.  Share them with the group by commenting below.  If you have any other ingredients for Project Planning Success, share those as well.

I am often asked what I mean by “batch processing” when speaking to prospective and new Breezers.  The term batch processing is used when referring to a group of information being processed in one pass or batch.  For example, if you send a group of documents to the printer using one process, this is batch processing.  Of course, there are many good reasons why you would want to process your information in a batch processing method.  I am going to discuss Saving Time, Uniformity and Organization of Information as the three key benefits, I see, of using a batch processing method.

Aside from understanding what batch processing actually is, it is important to understand the benefits of this work flow.  Are there any tasks or daily activities that you wish you could automate?  When do you find batch printing in the most useful?

After the OCR program is finished searching the documents, you can then perform searches on the results.  This will save the document reviewer the time it would take to identify “key people” or “issues” located within a document without reading the document.  There are many databases where you can load OCR text and search for the same key people or issues across the entire document population.

Not all OCR software programs are equal.  The more accurate OCR software programs will yield better results by recognizing more characters and saving the characters to the output file.  Always consider OCR accuracy in addition to speed when evaluating a product offering OCR capabilities.

Creating a PDF with text using OCR will create a less accurate file.  The OCR engine must seek and record all of the characters on the image file.  Then, the OCR text is combined with the image file into a searchable PDF file.  The reviewer may then search the document for a specific word or term.

OCR text is a great tool in your review arsenal.  You are able to use OCR text to search across a large population of documents in a database or search individual documents for key terms.  Keep in mind that the quality of the OCR software you use has a direct result on the OCR results.

Prefix

A bates number prefix, if used, can be a great way to distinguish documents from one source or another.  The custodian name, facility name or document type could be broken down to begin a Bates number series.  For example, documents received from Southwest Hospital could begin with any one of the following prefixes:
 
SOUTHWESTHOSPITAL                    SW-HOSP
SWHOSPITAL                                    SWHOSP

After we have decided on a Bates prefix, we can then choose a counter length.

Counter

The counter is the space in the Bates number where each page is assigned a number.  The most important thing to consider when establishing your counter is an estimated number of pages you will receive from that source.  This will give you an idea of how many leading zeros to place before your first number.  A leading zero count, also called zero padding, is the number of zeros placed before the first number in a Bates number sequence.  The Bates numbering scheme below has a total of five leading zeros:
SWHOSP000001
This numbering scheme will allow for 999,999 Bates numbers to be used.  If you anticipate 1,000,000+ pages, then add another leading zero.  If you anticipate 10,000,000+ pages, add two zeros to the original scheme.  I typically recommend six leading zeros.  My Bates numbering scheme would look like:
SWHOSP0000001

Separator

A separator is a character that separates any section of the Bates number.  I am going to add the separator “-“ to my Bates number scheme:
SWHOSP-0000001
Now, the Prefix and Counter portions of the Bates number are separated.  It is most common to see a separator when a Suffix is being used.

Suffix

The suffix is a page counter similar to the Counter portion of the Bates number.  When we add a Suffix to a Bates number scheme, we are inserting pages into the document population.  Sometimes these pages are called “A pages”.  The “A pages” are typically stamped in an alpha sequence which is added to end of the preceding bates number.  For example, if it were discovered that the back side of a check needed to be added after the page SWHOSP-0000045, you could add the new page as an “A page”:
SWHOSP-0000045A

Another method of using a suffix is applying the suffix in the document numbering scheme.  For example, I assign electronic numbers to exhibits for use in trial.  I setup my exhibit numbering convention similar to the following convention:
EXHIBIT001.0001

I hope these examples helped to crack the Bates numbering code.  Do you have any interesting experiences with Bates numbering schemes?  I would love to hear your funny/exciting stories or words of wisdom on this topic.

Have a good one!

Not all cases are the same.  Not all document populations are the same. My recommendation is to process image files using the Single-Page TIF.  This processing option has the same result in terms of loading the documents in the database.  The difference comes along later down the road when you need to reset document breaks or regroup pages into exhibits.  Where have your experiences lead you in terms of multi-page or single page image files?  Feel free to post your questions, comments or concerns.  I'd love to hear your ideas.
**The term Form 343T is used in place of the actual document name.

Who is blogging about how to process your documents? Soon the overwhelming questions seep to the surface; “How am I going to do this?  How do I track my time?  How do I create a load file?  Should I load OCR?  IS ANYONE LISTENING?!”

If you feel like a lone voice crying in the wilderness, it’s time to pause and take a deep breath. Someone is listening and Breeze has the solutions you need!

The first step is to establish a process by which you will get these documents into Summation or Concordance. Just like anything else, you must plan ahead or be prepared for failure. Well, maybe fail is too strong of a word but at the very minimum, expect ongoing challenges and extended time to get the job done right…or you can make light work of even the most complex document nightmare with Breeze Lit solutions.

Breeze provides a unique process plan for our clients. This plan assists in every step including the establishment of Bates numbering schemes and tracking pages for billing to setting up Breeze jobs to be processed.  If you already have a plan in place then Breeze provides the flexibility you need to enhance and modify your own system without having to change what already works. For those of you who are less organized (and you know who you are!), Breeze provides a quick and convenient way to get started fast. You can refine and modify the process to fit your specific needs but still get up to speed without the time, cost and steep learning curve associated with others. The important thing is to stop procrastinating and actually get started!

We have adopted the same philosophy to our plan as we have our software – keep it simple. 

Click on the following link to review the Breeze Process Plan.pdf.

Because service vendors don’t want you to do it yourself. Doing it for you is their bread and butter. That’s how they make money. So, what if I said you can get the bread and butter for free (or little cost) to your firm? You’d want a slice, wouldn’t you? Reduce costs and increase billable revenue by making your own bread-and-butter sandwich. Bring those services in-house.

You can do it yourself. Process images to searchable PDFs, create load files for all major lit-support databases, perform extremely accurate OCR, reorganize images, batch-print at rated speeds, and much more.

When you depend on a service vendor, you depend on its timeframe, not your own. Sometimes, your legal team waits days to get working documents, essentially wasting precious time it could devote to the case itself. That doesn’t make sense when you can bring the job in-house. Get working docs when you need them – how you need them – and break the chains of outsourcing. Cut out the middleman, already.

You’ll gain a competitive edge because you’ll have more time for the case.  Plus, the client doesn’t eat the cost you would’ve spent on a random service vendor. Your clients gain value because they’re getting better, more efficient legal services for less money. All the while, you’re making more money.

See, you increase billable revenue by doing the work yourself. I know a St. Louis firm that did just that. They cut costs to process images for their client and billed for the work they did. Everybody saved money. Now that’s a win-win if I’ve ever seen one.

I say, get work product faster, gain the competitive edge, and keep the money for yourself and your client.