Law Firm Reconstructs Contract History from 92,000 Documents in Three Weeks
Lighthouse applies language models and human expertise to uncover critical evidence.
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What We Did
- Outside counsel for a large construction firm partnered with Lighthouse to identify key documents
- Lighthouse used its proven iterative process to reduce the review set
- Collaborative approach continuously incorporated counsel’s insights into model results
Key Results
- 92,000 documents reduced to 871
- Key handwritten reports identified using metadata
- Counsel freed to focus on most important documents
- Review completed within the 3-week deadline
Piecing Together Contract History Without a Guide
A large construction company facing a breach-of-contract suit retained outside counsel. Because personnel involved in the contract were no longer employed by the contractor, the law firm needed to reconstruct the agreement’s history based on related documents and communications.
However, with just three weeks for review, a keyword search returned more than 90,000 items. The firm needed a way to identify the most critical documents rapidly and accurately.
Iterating and Adapting to Unearth Critical Information
The Lighthouse team applied advanced technology and review expertise to get the job done.
Counsel provided Lighthouse with 15 topics relevant to contractual changes, such as cost, delays, and weather conditions. The team identified an initial set of documents using linguistic modeling. The law firm provided feedback to update the search models. The insights of the experienced attorneys directed the investigation, while Lighthouse people and technology accelerated the discovery of relevant information.
As new topic areas emerged, Lighthouse adapted. They identified additional contractors involved in the dispute and concerns such as employee discontent and time-keeping accuracy. As the search proceeded, they captured important documents even though they were outside the original search parameters.
Most importantly, Lighthouse used metadata to highlight relevant site incident reports, the contents of which were not searchable. The law firm could review salient reports in depth, discovering key information concerning the disputed contract.
Ensuring Response Readiness
Over four iterations, Lighthouse escalated 871 key documents related to 16 case themes, in addition to the handwritten incident reports. Lighthouse data retrieval experts highlighted key language in Relativity and coded and prioritized critical documents to expedite review.
Using a powerful combination of linguistic models and case experience, Lighthouse shrank the unwieldy dataset to a manageable size and brought the most critical information to the forefront. Counsel could focus their resources on the most relevant data and maximize value for their client. By the end of the third week and final delivery, the attorneys were well-prepared for negotiations and litigation.
