If you’re in the legal or auditing profession, you have probably heard about e-discovery and predictive coding. But did you know that templates are an important portion of predictive coding software? In this article, we’ll explore e-discovery, predictive coding, templates, and how all three of them are interconnected. Then we’ll tell you how you can use templates with eFileCabinet to make your life easier.
What Is Electronic Discovery?
Electronic discovery, or e-discovery, refers to the discovery process in litigation or government investigations dealing with the exchange of information in electronic format. As you probably know, at some point in the process, lawyers receive a lot of documents from the opposing counsel that is potentially relevant to the case.
In order to make it more difficult for the opposing counsel, attorneys tend to engage in what is commonly referred to as a “document dump.” The strategy is to dump a large number of documents onto your opponent, thereby making it impossible for them to read everything in time.
Fortunately, there is a solution for this problem. While the files can’t be read manually within the allotted timeframe, e-discovery uses processes like predictive coding and templates to review the files automatically.
E-discovery is a process that consists of several different stages. First, the documents have to be identified and preserved. Then they have to be collected and processed.
Next, the documents are reviewed. Last but not least, the documents are turned over to the opposing counsel for review. The e-discovery process obviously doesn’t end there. Each legal team then has to review the documents from the opposing counsel to adequately prepare for the litigation ahead.
e-discovery isn’t just a process that affects lawyers. It can also be a term for an information audit conducted by an external auditor from a regulatory or government agency. Anytime a large number of documents in electronic format have to be reviewed to find relevant data, it can be referred to as an e-discovery.
What Is Predictive Coding?
Predictive coding is a way to speed up the review process of documents, which is why it can be considered a technology-assisted review. Instead of requiring humans to review a large number of documents, predictive coding is used to reduce the time humans have to spend on the review. Predictive coding software is even capable of “learning” what it needs to do.
Predictive coding helps speeds up e-discovery, because it save time and money by automating a lot of the review processes. It takes some time to set up initially, but it can greatly reduce the number of irrelevant documents that need to be reviewed manually.
How Can Templates Aid the e-Discovery Processes?
Templates can help you find the information you’re looking for quickly which in turn simplifies the e-discovery process. Templates inside of eFileCabinet can be applied to existing storage structures to your electronic folders and filing cabinets. Templates are a portion of predictive coding software, as templates make it easier to find what you’re looking for.
It can be difficult to picture templates inside of document management software (DMS), but they may be comparable to labeling folders, adding tags and comments, and sorting the information in a way that makes sense to the user. Of course, using a template structure is a lot more efficient than trying to keep your paperwork organized inside of your filing cabinets.
How You Can Use Templates with eFileCabinet’s Document Management Software
eFileCabinet allows you to use sample templates or create your own templates. These templates can be mass applied to many of your documents at once in order to add an organizational structure to your files. You can also choose to apply your templates to a specific folder or filling cabinet.
In order to add a template, you use your administration tab inside of eFileCabinet. From there, our DMS will lead you through selecting a sample template or creating a custom template of your own.
How Templates Simplify Audits
The template structure makes it easier for an external auditor to find documents that are relevant. Instead of shifting through and reviewing large stacks of documents, auditors can select the files that they need to review for audit purposes. If you have to pay your auditors for the time they spend on locating your records, then using templates can dramatically reduce your auditing expenses. Additionally, the audit will get done a lot faster with the help of templates.
How Document Management Software Helps the Legal Profession
Templates, the e-discovery process, and predictive coding are especially important to the legal profession. Reviewing large amounts of documents for relevant information is a huge part of an attorney’s workload. The good news is that eFileCabinet can help your legal office reduce the time spent looking for paperwork without missing something important.
But the use of templates is only one reason to choose eFileCabinet for all of your document management needs. Fill out the form on this page to start your free demo to see what else eFileCabinet can do for your organization.