E-discovery software specialist Catalyst is building buzz at this year’s LegalTech with more than just rolling papers.
Yes, you read that right. The Denver-based company is handing out rolling papers in New York.
“We thought that we need a Colorado giveaway to represent the spirit of Colorado. They’ve been a big hit so far. Someone thought that you’re not going to stand out among a thousand venders if you do what they all do,” said Catalyst CEO John Tredennick.
While Colorado is enjoying the trend of legalize pot, Tredennick and Catalyst is watching the latest in e-discovery, which he says is big data.
“I think the trends are an extension of what we’ve seen building for the last couple of years. I think everything starts with big data because the volumes just keep growing, and it drives everything,” said Tredennick. “Big data meets big legal and it means big discovery.”
Catalyst has seen a boom in how much data their clients are using to store documents. In years past, most clients only used 12 to 14 gigabytes of data, but now most of Catalysts clients use over 200 gigabytes. It’s also not usual to see firms using up to a terabyte for data collection.
A gigabyte can hold anywhere between 4000 to 5000 documents, according to Tredennick. As the demand for data space grows, Catalyst is showing off their latest service Insight Predict, which uses predictive analytics to find relevant case documents, at LegalTech.
The new document search model “leverages in-depth, statistically validated quality control and targeted search methodologies to ensure review defensibility and achieve maximum accuracy,” according to its press release.
This technology assisted review system was developed in partnership with Inspired Review.
“Aligning our workflows and document review expertise with Catalyst’s technology will provide our client with the opportunity to achieve an accurate and defensible process and price points that this industry has not seen before,” said Michael Dalewitz, founder and CEO of Inspired Review, in a press release.
This newer technology is not only designed to cut down on firms’ man hours spent looking over thousands of documents, but it also “does the most important thing a law firm can do for a client, which is make them look like a hero,” said Tredennick.
“Lawyers can walk up to a client and say ‘We have a million documents, and by using this technology, well only look at 300,000 of them. We don’t have to look at the 700,000.’ Clients can do the math,” he said. “If it’s a dollar a document to review, they can very easily say that they save nearly $700,000 off their bottom line. I haven’t seen anyone was was angry about that.”
While Tredennick noted that this is the first year that Catalyst is taking predictive analytics and “make it work in the real world, not just in theory,” it’s part of a larger demand from firms and the industry.
“Savvy firms have learned that this is not something to fight. It’s something to embrace,” said Tredennick.