Targeted document assignments in an electronic discovery system

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention relate to systems, methods, and computer program products for improved electronic discovery. More specifically, embodiments relate to computer program products for targeted document review assignments by determining concept-related data groupings within the overall corpus of data associated with a case and assembling the targeted document review assignments based on the concept-related data groupings. As such, document reviewers are presented with assignments that have highly conceptually-related documents, which results in further efficiency in the review process.

1 . An apparatus for determining targeted document review assignments in an electronic discovery system, the apparatus comprising:
 a computing platform including a memory and a processor;   a targeted document review assignment application stored in the memory, executable by the processor;   a concept-based data grouping mechanism configured to:
 receive a plurality of document coding inputs that each assign a review code to one of a plurality of first documents included within previously collected electronic data associated with a case in the electronic discovery system, wherein the review code indicates a level of relevancy or importance in relation to the case; 
 in response to receiving the at least one document coding input that assigns a review code to the first document, determining if one or more second documents, which are associated with other cases in the electronic discovery system which are pending review are same or similar to the first document based comparing one or more hash marks associated with the first document and one or more hash marks associated with the one or more second documents; 
 in response to receiving the at least one document coding input that codes the first document, determining, via a computing device, if one or more third documents, which are associated with other cases in the electronic discovery system, have been collected and are pending review are same as the first document; 
 in response to determining that the second documents are the same as the first document, automatically assign, via the computing device, the review code assigned to the first document to the second documents that are the same as the first document, wherein automatically assigning further comprises providing a confidence indicator for the one or more second documents, wherein the confidence indicator indicates a level of similarity between the second documents and the first document; 
 in response to determining that the third documents are same as the first document, automatically assigning, via a computing device processor, the review code assigned to the first document to the third documents that are the same as the first document, wherein automatically assigning further comprises providing a confidence indicator for the one or more third documents, wherein the confidence indicator indicates a level of similarity between the third documents and the first and second documents; 
 determine a plurality of data groupings based at least partially on each of the plurality of document coding inputs for assigning a review code to each of the first documents, the second documents, and the third documents; and 
   a document review assignment generator configured to:
 generate a plurality of document review assignments based on the plurality of data groupings, wherein each of the plurality of document review assignments comprise a predetermined number of allowable documents or files, wherein one or more of the plurality of document review assignments generated includes a first data grouping of the plurality of data groupings that is associated with a first review code of the plurality of document coding inputs and at least a portion of a second data grouping of the plurality of data groupings that is associated with a second review code of the plurality of document coding inputs when the first data grouping has less documents than the predetermined number of documents or files allowable for each of the one or more of the plurality of document review assignments. 
   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the concept-based data grouping mechanism is further configured to receive a plurality of predetermined concepts, wherein the predetermined concepts are further defined as a final search term set. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the document review assignment generator is further configured to generate the plurality of document review assignments, wherein each of assignments includes at least a portion of one of the plurality of data groupings. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the document review assignment generator is further configured to generate the plurality of document review assignments, wherein each of the assignments include one or more of the plurality of data groupings. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the targeted document review assignment application further includes a targeted document review assignor configured to assign one or more of the plurality of document review assignments to each of a plurality of document reviewers, wherein the assignment is based on associated data groupings within the document review assignments. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the targeted document review assignor is further configured to assign the one or more of the plurality of document review assignments to each of the plurality of document reviewers, such that two or more document review assignments that include a portion of a same grouping are assigned to a same document reviewer. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the document review assignment generator is further configured to generate the document review assignments wherein each assignment includes at least approximately 2,000 documents. 
     
     
         8 . A computer program product comprising:
 a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising:
 a first set and a second set of codes for causing a computer to:
 receive a plurality of document coding inputs that each assign a review code to one of a plurality of first documents included within previously collected electronic data associated with a case in the electronic discovery system, wherein the review code indicates a level of relevancy or importance in relation to the case; 
 in response to receiving the at least one document coding input that assigns a review code to the first document, determining if one or more second documents, which are associated with other cases in the electronic discovery system which are pending review are same or similar to the first document based comparing one or more hash marks associated with the first document and one or more hash marks associated with the one or more second documents; 
 in response to receiving the at least one document coding input that codes the first document, determining, via a computing device, if one or more third documents, which are associated with other cases in the electronic discovery system, have been collected and are pending review are same as the first document; 
 in response to determining that the second documents are the same as the first document, automatically assign, via the computing device, the review code assigned to the first document to the second documents that are the same as the first document, wherein automatically assigning further comprises providing a confidence indicator for the one or more second documents, wherein the confidence indicator indicates a level of similarity between the second documents and the first document; 
 in response to determining that the third documents are same as the first document, automatically assigning, via a computing device processor, the review code assigned to the first document to the third documents that are the same as the first document, wherein automatically assigning further comprises providing a confidence indicator for the one or more third documents, wherein the confidence indicator indicates a level of similarity between the third documents and the first and second documents; 
 
 a second set of codes for causing a computer to:
 determine a plurality of data groupings based at least partially on each of the plurality of document coding inputs for assigning a review code to each of the first documents, the second documents, and the third documents; and 
 
 a third set of codes for causing a computer to:
 generate a plurality of document review assignments based on the plurality of data groupings, wherein each of the plurality of document review assignments comprise a predetermined number of allowable documents or files, wherein one or more of the plurality of document review assignments generated includes a first data grouping of the plurality of data groupings that is associated with a first review code of the plurality of document coding inputs and at least a portion of a second data grouping of the plurality of data groupings that is associated with a second review code of the plurality of document coding inputs when the first data grouping has less documents than the predetermined number of documents or files allowable for each of the one or more of the plurality of document review assignments. 
 
   
     
     
         9 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the first set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to receive a plurality of predetermined concepts, wherein the predetermined concepts are further defined as a final search term set. 
     
     
         10 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the third set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to generate the plurality of document review assignments, wherein each of assignments includes at least a portion of one of the plurality of data groupings. 
     
     
         11 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the third set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to generate the plurality of document review assignments, wherein each of the assignments include one or more of the plurality of data groupings. 
     
     
         12 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , further comprising a fourth set of codes for causing a computer to assign one or more of the plurality of document review assignments to each of a plurality of document reviewers, wherein the assigning is based on associated data groupings within the document review assignments. 
     
     
         13 . The computer program product of  claim 12 , wherein the fourth set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to assign one or more of the plurality of document review assignments to each of a plurality of document reviewers, such that two or more document review assignments that include a portion of a same grouping are assigned to a same document reviewer. 
     
     
         14 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the second set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to generate the document review assignments wherein each assignment includes at least approximately 2,000 documents. 
     
     
         15 . A method for determining targeted document review assignments in an electronic discovery system, the method comprising:
 receiving, at a computing device, a plurality of document coding inputs that each assign a review code to one of a plurality of first documents included within previously collected electronic data associated with a case in the electronic discovery system, wherein the review code indicates a level of relevancy or importance in relation to the case;   in response to receiving the at least one document coding input that assigns a review code to the first document, determining if one or more second documents, which are associated with other cases in the electronic discovery system which are pending review are same or similar to the first document based comparing one or more hash marks associated with the first document and one or more hash marks associated with the one or more second documents;   in response to receiving the at least one document coding input that codes the first document, determining, via a computing device, if one or more third documents, which are associated with other cases in the electronic discovery system, have been collected and are pending review are same as the first document;   in response to determining that the second documents are the same as the first document, automatically assigning, via the computing device, the review code assigned to the first document to the second documents that are the same as the first document, wherein automatically assigning further comprises providing a confidence indicator for the one or more second documents, wherein the confidence indicator indicates a level of similarity between the second documents and the first document;   in response to determining that the third documents are same as the first document, automatically assigning, via a computing device processor, the review code assigned to the first document to the third documents that are the same as the first document, wherein automatically assigning further comprises providing a confidence indicator for the one or more third documents, wherein the confidence indicator indicates a level of similarity between the third documents and the first and second documents;   determining, via a computing device, a plurality of data groupings based at least partially on each of the plurality of document coding inputs for assigning a review code to each of the first documents, the second documents, and the third documents; and   generating, by the computing device processor, a plurality of document review assignments based on the plurality of data groupings, wherein each of the plurality of document review assignments comprise a predetermined number of allowable documents or files, wherein one or more of the plurality of document review assignments generated includes a first data grouping of the plurality of data groupings that is associated with a first review code of the plurality of document coding inputs and at least a portion of a second data grouping of the plurality of data groupings that is associated with a second review code of the plurality of document coding inputs when the first data grouping has less documents than the predetermined number of documents or files allowable for each of the one or more of the plurality of document review assignments.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein receiving further comprises receiving, at the computing device a plurality of predetermined concepts, wherein the predetermined concepts are further defined as a final search term set. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein generating further comprises generating, via the computing device processor, the plurality of document review assignments, wherein each of assignments includes at least a portion of one of the plurality of data groupings. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein generating further comprises, generating, via the computing device, the plurality of document review assignments, wherein each of the assignments include one or more of the plurality of data groupings. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising computer-executable instruction code, that when executed causes the processing device to:
 assign, at the computing device, one or more of the plurality of document review assignments to each of a plurality of document reviewers, wherein the assigning is based on associated data groupings within the document review assignments.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein assigning further comprises assigning, at the computing device, one or more of the plurality of document review assignments to each of a plurality of document reviewers, such that two or more document review assignments that include a portion of a same grouping are assigned to a same document reviewer.