Waste #4. Selecting wrong or misleading keywords for searching
Research from the US suggests that keywords are on average only effective in identifying in the region of 30-40% of potentially relevant documents. Further, keywords often result in large volumes of ‘false positives’ (documents that are responsive to the keyword(s) but are of no relevance to the matter). The net effect is that to the extent that keyword searches are used as the primary basis for either the initial process of searching the client’s system or to filter down to a reviewable quantity then most lawyers will have missed potentially relevant documents and will be reviewing large volumes of irrelevant documents.
Other common issues / inefficiencies arising in relation to the use of keywords include:
- Time wasted corresponding with / discussing the appropriateness or otherwise of keyword search terms with the opposing law firm(s) prior to having tested the effectiveness of such terms.
- Failing to appreciate that all electronic disclosure technologies are not case sensitive and therefore agreeing to apply case sensitive search terms such as initials, names and / or acronyms will often result in very large numbers of hits on irrelevant documents.
- Agreeing to perform poorly constructed/ill considered keyword or phrase searches.
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Source: Smart eDiscovery Blog
By: James Moeskops
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