KM past and future—Fixing the pain points

The second major e-discovery challenge arises during the review process, which requires significant human intervention by attorneys and paralegals. Organizations are interested in strategies for reducing the time for that step because professional time is expensive. Content Analyst Analytical Technology (CAAT) from Content Analyst provides concept search, dynamic clustering and document categorization; it can be used in many situations, including e-discovery.

Altep, a litigation support company, integrated CAAT into its Inspicio litigation review product so that documents can be grouped into conceptual categories prior to review. “The review process is more efficient when attorneys don’t have to shift gears from one document to the next,” says Trevor Morgan, manager of product strategy at Altep. “This process of reviewing documents of similar conceptual content is called ‘focused review.’ Keyword searches, which we used previously, did not provide the same cost efficiencies and precision as a focused review strategy enabled by concept analytics.”

Enterprise content can also be analyzed ahead of time, which makes a company more prepared for e-discovery. “Each company should think about what it does and what the most likely topics of litigation might be,” says Susan Ethridge, manager for marketing at Altep. “A technology company, for example, might face litigation related to patent infringement, while a commercial builder might have to deal with workplace safety or real estate contracts.” Anticipating problem areas can help companies focus their information management efforts, a useful strategy when resources are limited. “Categories should be re-evaluated periodically,” Ethridge adds, “because areas of concern can change over time.”

At first glance, social networking analysis, video management and e-discovery seem to have little in common, but they all pose some challenges when it comes to knowledge management. At the same time, they offer opportunities for organizations (both vendors and users) that decide to tackle them.