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IPRO Introduces Fully-Automated and Integrated E-Discovery Platform

IPRO’s Automated Digital Discovery automates key data management and production steps in e-discovery.

By Zach Warren, Legaltech News

September 4, 2015

As helpful as e-discovery can be at eliminating the paper processes of old, there remains many opportunities for the process to become more efficient. IPRO Tech believes the answer falls with automation, and the company has released what it calls the world’s first fully automated and integrated e-discovery solution to prove it.

IPRO’s Automated Digital Discovery (ADD) platform automates key data management and production steps, which the company says can help avoid common time delays, errors, and budget overruns. The goal of the platform is to dramatically reduce errors that occur through human input in the process, only requiring people to configure workflow and settings, and add more data when needed.

“Current systems are still employing the inefficient old way of batch processing with all the starts and stops that force data into one system and then require users to wait for it to copy before you can even have users start look at what they have,” said Kim Taylor, the president and COO of IPRO Tech, to Legaltech News. “Not only is the current process incredibly inefficient, it is very costly both in terms of money but also potential risk. These stops/starts introduce multiple points for human errors, from procedures and steps not being done according to policy or just plain old mistakes. Data that shouldn’t be processed gets moved down the line.”

ADD works by eliminating batches of data so it no longer has to wait for users to check it. Even as the batches are broken apart, the company said, the tracking and chain of custody for all data remains intact. The data is then copied, verified and processed at the folder or container level, while the human-applied filters (such as date ranges, file types and de-duplication methods) are applied automatically.

Taylor told Legaltech News that the process by which batches of data are eliminated is the key to driving the product’s increased efficiency. Notably, Taylor said, the program treats keyword selection differently from other platforms at the setting selection stage.

“[Users] can de-dupe, de-NIST, add date range and file types, everything but keywords,” Taylor noted. “Our goal is to remove the starts/stops and those methods of filtering and culling the data are perfect for automation. Since keyword selection is more of a back and forth process with counsel, we remove it from the automation phase so it doesn’t slow the workflow down and all the data can stream into the review process.”

All files are processed this way, Taylor added, except for files that the automated system deems “problem files.” These files are held apart for further investigation and corrections. Otherwise, the data is then moved to a review platform (such as IPRO’s Eclipse or Relativity), where keyword searching, analytics and further culling can be done.

IPRO has displayed ADD at this week’s ILTACON 2015 in Las Vegas, and Taylor said the response to the system has been “tremendous,” adding, “Customers and partners mouths literally drop when they see it.” He quoted one law firm partner as saying that “most e-discovery technology today is intrusive, a bit of tail wagging the dog. ADD is the opposite. It’s dropping into the background so we can focus on the merits of case.”

Customers interested in the software can schedule an ADD demo on the company’s website.

View the full article here.