Situation

Our client was working on large construction dispute and had to prepare a significant number of statements. The client was already working with us and had all the relevant documents supporting each statement in the review database. For one tranche, the client had to link 68 statements with over 22,000 referenced documents. The statements were being progressively finalised, and each needed to have the supporting document linked to the body of the statement and a copy annexed to the document. The client had less than 20 days to complete this task.

Solution

Our team worked with the client to obtain word versions of each statement as finalised. The client ensured that each statement referred to the supporting documents with reference to the unique document ID it had been assigned in the review database.

Using our custom hyperlinking tool and workflow the team went about extracting the referenced documents from Relativity and linking them to each statement. As a part of the process, we run processes that use technology to check for incorrect references, references to privileged or redacted documents as well as those that had not been disclosed. Reports are sent to the client and the relevant changes made before finalising the statement and attached documents. The client then received a fully hyperlinked statement with a list of referenced documents and, in this case, the documents themselves. The statement is also cross-referenced against the relevant document within the Relativity database.

Print bundles can also be prepared but were not required for this matter as it was being run electronically.

Impact

Our hyperlinking tool and workflow allowed our client to:

• Significantly reduce the time and cost associated with the preparation and collation of evidence, especially compared to a traditional, more manual, workflow

• Have more time to prepare the substantive content within the statements and focus on other matters relating to the impending hearing

• Make quick and last minute changes to statements as our linking process can be completed faster than compared to a traditional approach

• Increase the efficiency with which documents are navigated by various stakeholders (having offline bundles and print bundles available as well as cross referencing of statements to documents in Relativity)

• Reduce the risk of errors in the referencing process through reliance on automated checks, rather than manual human review, to ensure references are accurate and appropriate.