Drafting a comprehensive document review protocol provides the best method for ensuring a high-quality and consistent document review, by proactively informing document reviewers of your expectations by delivering relevant information and directions.

A document review protocol will serve as a directing document, stating objectives, providing case history, reference materials, and explaining coding instructions to guide the document review team. Although, document reviewers will still have questions after a briefing call from lawyers explaining the engagement, a thoughtfully drafted review protocol will reduce questions and increase efficiency by proactively addressing probable questions through detailed instructions.

Although each matter will require tailored sections, typically, a document review protocol should cover:

1. Introduction statement
2. Case background
3. Objective statement
4. Case context reference documents
5. Document coding instructions
6. Privileged Documents
7. Document coding reference document examples
8. Corporate document services

Introduction Statement:

The protocol should begin with a brief introduction to the case and address the scope of the upcoming review. The introduction statement will serve as a quick reference point that document reviewers can refer to, ensuring they are staying within the scope of the assignment. Therefore, the introduction statement should familiarise document reviewers with the matter by the inclusion of a brief explanation regarding who are the parties, whom your firm represents, what is at issue, and what the document review will entail. The introduction statement should be concise since the case background section will provide specific case details.

Case Background:

The section provides document reviewers with details about the matter’s inception to where the matter currently stands. Here, document reviewers will be able to learn the case’s procedural history, internal developments, case theories, and outside interactions with opposing counsel that may provide additional context to their assignment. Understanding how a task contributes to case objectives should yield a better document reviewer work-product by hopefully keeping document reviewers more engaged by explaining how their job contributes to the overall client engagement and goals.