Technology Assisted Document Review: People, Process, Technology

Document review is where legal teams identify what is relevant, protect privileged documents, and produce responsive materials on a defensible timeline. Technology can reduce noise and speed prioritization, but accuracy still depends on clear protocols and trained reviewers. This guide breaks down the legal document review process using three levers that matter most: people, process, and technology assisted document review (often called TAR).

What Is the Legal Document Review Process?

The legal document review process is the structured workflow used in discovery to evaluate collected data sets, classify documents (relevance, responsiveness, confidentiality), protect privileged documents, and produce the correct materials to the other side.

Legal document review process (high level):

Collect and process documents from likely sources (email, chat, cloud-based storage, devices).
Review for relevance and issues using a review protocol and consistent coding decisions.
Conduct privilege review and quality control (sampling, second level checks, escalation).
Produce responsive, non-privileged documents with an audit trail.

Why Document Review Gets Complicated Fast (Volume, Timelines, Risk)

Document review gets complicated fast because teams are balancing volume, compressed timelines, and legal risk at the same time. Data often comes from many sources (email, chat, cloud tools, devices), formats vary, and small context differences can change relevance or privilege. When protocols are unclear, coding drift increases and quality control becomes harder, which can lead to expensive rework or production mistakes.

Common pressure points:

High volume and duplicates that slow reviewers down
Short discovery timelines that force parallel workstreams
Privilege risk and inconsistent issue coding across reviewers
Mixed data types (attachments, threads, chat exports) that complicate context

People: Roles That Protect Quality and Consistency

Project Leadership and Escalation Paths

A defensible document review starts with clear ownership. A project lead sets the review protocol, trains reviewers on issue coding, and defines escalation rules so edge cases are handled consistently. Escalation paths matter because small differences in context can change relevance, confidentiality, or privilege decisions, and those decisions must stay consistent across the review team.

Review Teams, SMEs, and Privilege Oversight

Most reviews need multiple layers. First level reviewers apply issue tags and responsiveness calls. Subject matter experts help with industry terminology and case themes. Privilege oversight is typically handled by attorneys who can make nuanced privilege decisions, review close calls, and confirm that quality control checks are catching errors before production.

Process: Workflows That Reduce Errors and Rework

With the right people, processes and technology in place, document review can be done more effectively and efficiently. Some of the most important steps involved in the review process include:

Issue Coding, Privilege Review, and QC Sampling

Strong process prevents coding drift and privilege mistakes. Start by aligning on scope, issues, and definitions before review begins. Provide reviewers with a coding protocol, examples, and a decision log. Use quality control sampling throughout the review, not only at the end, and route close calls through a defined escalation path so decisions stay consistent.

Documentation and Defensible Review Practices

Defensibility comes from documentation. Track the review protocol, training approach, QC sampling method, escalation rules, and any technology settings used to prioritize documents. Clear documentation reduces rework, supports consistent decision making, and helps teams explain review choices if they are challenged later.

Technology Assisted Document Review (TAR) in Practice

Where TAR Helps (Prioritization, Clustering, Deduping)

Technology assisted review (TAR) uses features like deduping, email threading, clustering, and predictive ranking to prioritize likely relevant documents and reduce repetitive review. Used well, TAR helps teams focus earlier on the documents that matter and improve consistency by grouping similar items together.

Where Humans Must Stay in the Loop (Judgment, Nuance)

TAR does not replace legal judgment. Privilege calls, intent, and context require trained reviewers and attorney oversight, especially when small wording differences change meaning or risk. The most defensible approach uses TAR to accelerate review while validating outcomes through sampling and targeted second level checks. As explained in Harvard Business Review’s article on artificial intelligence in decision-making, AI should augment human intelligence, not replace it.

Document Review Best Practices Checklist

Define the review protocol before kickoff (scope, issues, responsiveness standard).
Set privilege rules up front, including family handling and escalation triggers.
Train reviewers with example documents and a decision log to prevent drift.
Use QC sampling throughout, not just at the end (spot checks plus targeted re-review).
Track consistency across reviewers (disagreement rate, overturn rate).
Maintain clear escalation paths for close calls and privilege determinations.
Document defensibility: workflows, search terms, sampling approach, and audit trails.
Use technology intentionally (deduping, threading, clustering) and validate outcomes.
Protect sensitive data with access controls, especially in remote review environments.
Align production format and deadlines early to avoid late stage rework.

When Outsourcing Document Review Makes Sense

Outsourcing document review makes sense when volume spikes, deadlines compress, or privilege risk increases. Teams often use document review services to scale quickly while maintaining consistent protocols and quality control. If you also need flexible staffing for reviewers or attorneys, legal talent outsourcing can help fill gaps without pulling core attorneys away from depositions and motion work. For a deeper checklist of defensible workflows, see document review best practices.

Talk With Lexitas About Document Review Support

Need scalable, defensible document review support? Talk with Lexitas about technology assisted document review and review team staffing.

FAQs About TAR

What Is a Technology-Assisted Review?

Technology-assisted review (TAR) uses software to help sort and prioritize documents by learning from reviewer decisions. It speeds up review by surfacing likely relevant material earlier and reducing time spent on duplicates and low-value documents.

What Is a Privilege Review?

A privilege review is the step in discovery where a legal team identifies and protects documents that should not be produced because they are covered by attorney–client privilege or the work product doctrine. The goal is to prevent inadvertent disclosure.

What Are the Types of Privilege in Document Review?

The most common privilege protections in document review are: (1) attorney–client privilege, (2) work product doctrine, and (3) common interest (joint defense) privilege. Depending on the matter, teams may withhold or redact documents under these protections.

What Is a Quality Control Sample?

In document review, a quality control (QC) sample is a selected set of documents re-checked to measure accuracy and consistency. QC sampling helps catch errors, monitor reviewer alignment, and reduce the risk of bad calls before production.

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