Load
Automatic, self-service uploads and processing.
MasterFile’s ediscovery software platform lets you or your legal team load native data and productions – by simple drag and drop, pointing to a disk folder, or from a cloud-based solution like Dropbox. Ingest email, evidentiary documents, transcripts, depositions, OCR images, and more. Easy to use tools anyone can use relegate old manual processes and antiquated ediscovery solutions that cause delay to the past.
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- Load any typical filetype, including PST, ZIP, Outlook, IBM Notes, native email, webmail and PDF. No need to send data to vendors, worry about physical media, etc.
- Images are OCRed making them searchable.
- Native emails are loaded and also converted to PDF on-the-fly, their metadata and text extracted, and attachments bi-directionally linked.
- Ultra-fast, accurate search capabilities across metadata fields and content lets you pinpoint material instantly.
- De-duplication, similar document clustering and email threading by content cuts review time by 50% or more.
Plus
- Granular access control over cases, documents, key extracts and facts as needed.
And
- Your choice of on-premise or cloud-based ediscovery software. Automatically synchronize entire matters locally for off-line use or archival.
Streamline your work with matter specific case templates.
Case templates let you pre-configure your own master templates.
Preset document types, issues, players – even document and research etc. – specific to a practice area (family, malpractice, maritime, etc.), add user permissions, and more.
Then, simply clone a specific master template to create a new matter database instantly that’s pre-configured and ready to go.
Eliminate set up time, ensure consistency, and get to work faster.
Search and Review
Take control of the review process with fast, flexible document review.
MasterFile’s complete review platform lets you easily analyze content from native file formats, images, PDFs, etc. Documents are automatically categorized. Browse to and drill down into evidence in one or two clicks. Need to see all emails by domain? It’s already there. Documents by specific authors? That too. Cull en masse or review material individually.
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- Code with relevant issues, and mark key information on the split screen content panel, adding hot documents and key extracts to the fact chronology and issue outline on-the-fly.
- Automatically identify and redact words, phrases, entire pages, or patterns, such as personally identifiable information, and apply customizable stamps to indicate the reasons for redaction.
- Near-duplicate document clustering and email content threading will cut your review time by 1/2 – or more.
- Tag documents to reviewers, assign tasks, specific review criteria, and update and change review assignments as data changes.
Make your first review your last – key extracts that are always visible.
As you review, create an extract and add it to the fact chronology in one click. You only need review a document once.
Key material in evidence, transcripts, etc. is always visible in context in MasterFile’s live views. Why is that? So you can see what’s important across hundreds of documents at a glance, saving hours of re-reading or sifting through electronic notes – especially when preparing a motion or preparing for a hearing.
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- Give your extracts a concise summary, add virtually unlimited commentary and link them to any number of issues.
- Since extracts are grouped by issue, author, etc., most searching for key passages is eliminated.
- Keep extracts private or share them with others such as co-counsel – which may lead to new strategies and insights that can lead to a winning outcome.
MasterFile ‘s ediscovery solution makes short work of the ediscovery process.
Discover what matters with faster, deeper more accurate searches.
Whether you run a simple Google type search or a sophisticated query, search results load nearly instantaneously, no matter how complex your search criteria or how large your document set, so you hone in on exactly what you’re looking for. For example, proximity search will find documents where ‘Lorem’ and ‘sadipscing’ occur in the same sentence and rank them by how close together the words are.
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- Identify relevant issues and apply custom or preset tags.
- Dig deeper into emails to automatically find communications between people and identify side conversations between specific people. Don’t miss out on information that would otherwise be overlooked. Apply filters like date range, sender domain, and file type to eliminate irrelevant data too.
- Make informed coding decisions.
Production Perfection
Small firms need intuitive legal production that’s simple and error-proof.
MasterFile has what you need from simple to complex production. A simple 3-step, point and click process lets you produce in native, PDF or mixed formats with endorsement stamping, customized Bates numbering, and more. Maintain privilege by redacting data anywhere on a document too. Clean copies are always left in the case database, where all productions and multiple disclosures of documents are automatically tracked.
Production takes place in a MasterFile ‘briefcase’ which also serves as an archive for the produced documents. Automate tasks to avoid common errors, link production sets, and reuse production settings to save time and get a head start on whatever’s next.
But don’t take just our word for it …
Strategise
Take a deep dive into key evidence – and act on it.
Evidence is much more than a bunch of documents.
That’s why MasterFile’s robust fact management lets you craft case strategy as you review right in MasterFile itself. Its collaborative repository organizes the most relevant documents, exhibits and transcripts as you capture, organize and evaluate important facts, identify key players and issues, plot your timeline, and connect the dots to uncover who said what when, and why.
Never waste time and money with post-review tools or multiple products for litigation, again.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why choose MasterFile as your document review software for small matter ediscovery?
Most ediscovery cases are relatively simple, contain under 5gb of data and have less than 5 custodians. That’s often true even for complex litigation. They essentially involve two steps:
- Collect and load data from the custodians, and
- Review for responsiveness and privilege.
Moreover,
- The evidence is normally live data in native format like email, or handed to the lawyer on flash or hard drive.
- File types are usually common such as email (EML, MSG, etc.), word processing (Word, WP) or other office apps (PDF, JPG, TIF, etc.).
- Small cases demand applications that can easily be run standalone or connected to the cloud for processing and review.
Collaborative ediscovery technology for small law firms must manage all that without fuss: A few clicks and MasterFile loads electronic documents in batch. A simple three-step process lets you produce in native, PDF or mixed format. Witness files form connections between witnesses, documents, and issues. And as you review, MasterFile’s integrated case analysis and ediscovery tools let you dive deep into facts, issues and event chronologies on-the-fly to build the story behind your case.
How are production tasks managed in MasterFile?
Production in MasterFile gives the solo and small firm affordable, sophisticated tools that work simply and easily to quickly respond to document production requests and production deadlines.
A single copy of every document and transcript is maintained which greatly simplifies trial preparation too. Deposition exhibits can be given new Bates numbers, new dates recorded and clean copies generated for use at trial or electronic display, production or disclosure – since notes and annotations made throughout the life of the case remain in MasterFile.
Production tasks are managed in a simple three step process that separates the selection of documents to be produced from their actual production. This means team members can proceed with production independently and counsel collaborating as necessary. You can produce in PDF, TIF and native format depending on the form of production in disclosure requirements, agreements between the parties on how native documents will be managed throughout the discovery process, etc.
Accumulating the documents to produce.
Production starts by you and/or your team accumulating the documents to be produced in a special MasterFile database called a briefcase. It takes one-click to get started. And you can collaborate on many different production requests, from the same or other matters, simultaneously.
Document review, selection and accumulation does not have to be completed at one sitting but can be completed as time is available or as documents are found. So you can add, review or remove documents from the production briefcase at anytime — even if you’re on the road and disconnected from the office network.
Synchronization keeps everyone collaborating on the production up to date, automatically.
You’re automatically alerted if you try to add privileged documents or if the document has already been added to the briefcase for production, helping to prevent mistakes. MasterFile does not assign document/Bates numbers when documents are added to the briefcase, but only when production actually starts. This means “gaps” in Bates number sequences are impossible so you don’t have to deal with such complexities that plague other systems.
How it works – importing native email
Simply select specific emails to load from Outlook, any Outlook PST or Notes NSF mailbox file, native email files like .MSG or .EML, or connect to webmail.
MasterFile extracts values such as date, document type, author (from), recipient, CC, etc., (as well as metadata like Internet routing) automatically from each e-mail and populates the email’s profile fields. Native emails are converted to PDF on the fly and both versions stored on import.
E-mail attachments are extracted and linked preserving the e-mail/attachment relationship.
Text and metadata is extracted so you can highlight key facts, added them to the case chronology and link to relevant issues in one click.