The legal document review process can be labor-intensive and needs to be comprehensive in order to comply fully with the requirements of the discovery process. In order to address these needs, a team of contract attorneys is established, or the process is outsourced to an experienced vendor.
The document review process is generally carried out in stages. The first stage involves reviewing documents for relevance/responsiveness and coding them for subject matter. The documents are coded and/or tagged in a database in a way that allows each document to be readily located for a second-stage review and later production. In performing this first stage review, the reviewer should evaluate:
- Relevance: If it is not relevant to any issues in the case, it should not be produced.
- Responsive: The reviewer will determine to which discovery request the document is responsive. If a document is non-responsive, it should not be produced.
- Issue Code (if applicable): During the review, certain documents can be tagged as relevant to a particular witness’s testimony and/or to specific legal issues in the case.
The second-stage review identifies which documents – although responsive – should still be withheld or redacted before production. This can be done in conjunction with the first stage review on an ongoing basis or as a separate second step in the legal document review process, where only responsive documents are evaluated. Evaluation of whether a document should be withheld depends on the following criteria:
- Privilege: The reviewer should determine if the document contains privileged information, such as attorney work product or privileged attorney-client communications. If a document is responsive but protected from disclosure because it contains privileged information, it should be redacted before production or withheld entirely.
- Confidentiality: Even if the document is not privileged, it may contain information that is protected from disclosure due to confidentiality laws and/or a protective order. Reviewers should determine whether the document will be completely withheld or if it can be produced once the confidential information is redacted.
Many law firms and corporations are choosing to outsource their legal document review. At Baer Reed, we offer high-quality, comprehensive document review at a low cost. We conduct an efficient process in compliance with the request you received for production of documents. Contact us for more information about our customized legal document review services.
Mr. Reyes graduated with honors from the Ateneo de Manila University, where he received the Procter and Gamble Student Excellence Award. He obtained his Juris Doctor degree from the Ateneo de Manila School of Law. During law school, Mr. Reyes was part of the Philippine delegation to the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot held in Vienna, Austria. He was also a member of the Ateneo Society of International Law and the St. Thomas More Debate Society. He completed his internship at the Public Attorney’s Office. He wrote a thesis entitled: “To Kill A White Elephant: An Analysis of the Fiduciary Exception to the Corporate Attorney-Client Privilege”. Mr. Reyes is admitted to practice law in the Philippines and the State of New York.
Ms. Lardizabal-Manzano is a graduate of San Sebastian College-Recoletos, where she earned her B.A. in Political Science. In 2003, she received her law degree from Lyceum of the Philippines and was admitted to practice law in 2004.
Matthew Hersh earned a B.A. in Political Science from Columbia University in 1990 and graduated cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 1999. He also holds a master’s degree in international relations from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.
Cap. Avi Levak (Res. IDF) graduated from from Israel’s prestigious Ben-Gurion University of the Negev with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Mathematics. He is also a Leadership and Communication coach trained in TuT coaching by Alon gal in Israel. Avi specializes in high-level, in-depth analysis of business and client needs, within systems and software strategy and architecture.
Ms. Tyler graduated cum laude from Georgetown University and received her law degree, cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center. During law school, she interned at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. She also worked on The Tax Lawyer journal and was a member of the award-winning Barristers’ Council Mock Trial Team. Ms. Tyler is admitted to practice law in the State of California and the District of Columbia.
Ms. Cruz-Anonuevo graduated cum laude and top nine in her batch from Miriam College with a degree of Bachelor of Arts in InternationalStudies. She obtained her Juris Doctor degree from Ateneo de Manila University School of Law in Rockwell. During law school, she interned in Rivera, Santos, Maranan & Associates. She was also part of Ateneo’s Labor Law Bar Operations. She wrote her thesis on, “Stealing Privacy: Limitations on Media’s Photographic Invasion.,” Ms. Cruz-Anonuevo is admitted to practice law in the Philippines.
Ms. Aquino-Batallones obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Development Studies (with Minors in Global Politics and Hispanic Studies) from the Ateneo de Manila University. In 2011, she received her Juris Doctor degree from Ateneo de Manila University School of Law. During law school, she interned at Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc & de los Angeles then became an intern of Ateneo Legal Services Center’s Clinical Legal Education Program.
Mr. De Guzman graduated from San Beda College with a degree of Bachelor of Arts Major in Economics and received his law degree from San Beda College of Law. He is multilingual and is fluent in three languages: Chinese, Filipino, and English. He was admitted to the Philippine Bar in 2003.