Finding the Keys to a Strategic Defense in a Second Request

Key Results

• In just three weeks, the Lighthouse team found the 1K most important documents out of an initial data population of 19M documents. 
• Lighthouse experts began flowing key documents to the case team just three days after the initial kickoff meeting. 
• Lighthouse saved counsel at least a month’s worth of preparation time for witness interviews and defense planning by efficiently finding the most important documents. 
  

A Mountain of Data and a Short Timeline 

A global technology company and their two outside counsel teams needed to quickly prepare a winning defense in a high-stakes, time-sensitive, Department of Justice (DOJ) Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Second Request. To do so, they would have to identify and review all potentially damaging (or alternatively, helpful) documents within an initial data population of 19M documents. Finding the most important documents within that massive data volume—in less than one month—presented a Herculean task. 

A Proprietary Solution for Finding the Most Important Documents 

Lighthouse’s technology-enabled search strategy is led by information retrieval experts with decades of industry experience, who utilize robust search technologies that support large data volumes beyond industry-standard tools. Together, this combination of cutting-edge technology and data expertise quickly surfaces critical documents, streamlining legal analysis and case preparation for case teams. 

Handing Over the Keys to a Strategic Defense 

With no time to lose, Lighthouse TAR and review experts were able to whittle down the 19M documents to just over 990K responsive documents for production to meet substantial compliance. Simultaneously, Lighthouse experts quickly got to work finding the most important documents for the case team. 

Rather than relying on keyword culling, the Lighthouse team analyzed the data population and leveraged proprietary algorithms to safely reduce the universe to documents that contained the unique content the case team needed. 

From there, a team of six data retrieval experts leveraged proprietary search technology and institutional knowledge of the client’s data, gleaned from working with the company in a managed services capacity, to find key documents that were critical to the case team. Our experts used an iterative process and had weekly meetings with the case team so that they could instantly integrate counsel and witness feedback throughout the project, which helped yield more accurate search results. 

With this process, the Lighthouse team began flowing key documents to the case team just three days after the initial kickoff meeting. Over the course of the next three weeks, the Lighthouse team provided a total 1K key documents (out of a 990K responsive documents) in eight rolling deliveries. By gaining immediate access to these documents and eliminating the need for time-consuming and costly manual review, Lighthouse saved the team at least a month’s worth of preparation time for witness interviews and defense preparation.