{"id":81425,"date":"2021-07-01T10:01:23","date_gmt":"2021-07-01T15:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.consilio.com\/?p=81425"},"modified":"2022-11-07T12:54:17","modified_gmt":"2022-11-07T17:54:17","slug":"can-a-party-compel-another-partys-use-of-tar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.consilio.com\/can-a-party-compel-another-partys-use-of-tar\/","title":{"rendered":"Can a Party Compel Another Party\u2019s Use of TAR?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Past cases like\u00a0Kleen Products<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Hyles<\/em><\/a>, along with\u00a0Sedona Principle 6<\/a>, stand for the proposition that a requesting party cannot compel TAR use, because generally speaking, producing parties choose methods and requesting parties judge results.\u00a0 Judges, however, have occasionally directed TAR use themselves to accelerate delinquent discovery efforts (see, e.g.,\u00a0Indep. Living Ctr. of S. California<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Winfield<\/em><\/a>).<\/p>\n

In re Mercedes-Benz Emissions Litigation<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

In the case of\u00a0In re: Mercedes-Benz Emissions Litig.<\/em>, 2020 WL 103975 (D.N.J. 2020)<\/a>, the parties reached an impasse regarding the document identification methodology to be employed by the defendants.\u00a0 The plaintiffs wanted the defendants to use predictive coding or another form of technology-assisted review, while the defendants wished to employ a \u201ccustodian-and-search-term approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

The plaintiffs ultimately asked the Special Master to compel the defendants\u2019 use of TAR, arguing \u201cthat this type of computer-assisted coding process yields significantly better results than either traditional human \u2018eyes on\u2019 review of the full data set or the use of search terms.\u201d\u00a0 The defendants contended, however, that:<\/p>\n

\n

. . . this case presents a number of unique issues that would make developing an appropriate and effective seed set challenging, such as language and translation issues, unique acronyms and identifiers, redacted documents, and technical documents.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Special Master\u2019s Analysis\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Special Master began his analysis with a review of several past cases, including\u00a0Hyles<\/em>:<\/p>\n

\n

While \u2018the case law has developed to the point that it is now black letter law that where the producing party wants to utilize TAR for document review, courts will permit it,\u2019\u00a0no court has ordered a party to engage in TAR over the objection of that party<\/strong>. \u00a0The few courts that have considered this issue have all declined to compel predictive coding.\u00a0 [emphasis added; internal citations omitted]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Special Master also looked to\u00a0Sedona Principle 6<\/a>, as did the judges in the prior cases.\u00a0 Based on these authorities, the Special Master concluded that \u2013 even though he \u201cbelieves TAR would likely be a more cost effective and efficient methodology for identifying responsive documents\u201d \u2013 it\u2019s the defendants\u2019 choice if \u201cthey prefer to use the custodian-and-search term approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Warning about Proportionality and Performance\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In reaching that conclusion, however, the Special Master also \u201ccautioned\u201d the defendants about the effect choosing this course of action would have on his future assessment of any burden or proportionality issues raised in relation to these discovery efforts:<\/p>\n

\n

However, Defendants are cautioned that the Special Master\u00a0will not look favorably on any future arguments related to burden of discovery requests, specifically cost and proportionality<\/strong>, when Defendants have chosen to utilize the custodian-and-search term approach despite wide acceptance that TAR is cheaper, more efficient and superior to keyword searching. \u00a0[emphasis added]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Moreover, the Special Master left open the possibility of the plaintiffs renewing their request to compel TAR use at a later point in the process, \u201cif Plaintiffs contend that Defendants\u2019 actual production is deficient.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Note about Search Validation<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Additionally, courts have long had an expectation that some kind of validation of searches will take place \u2013 regardless of whether TAR is involved \u2013 to ensure their reasonable efficacy, and the Special Master reiterated that expectation in this case:<\/p>\n

\n

The parties agree and\u00a0case law dictates that appropriate validation be utilized to test search results<\/strong>.\u00a0 See e.g.\u00a0In re Seroquel Products Liability Litig.<\/em>,\u00a0244 F.R.D. 650, 662\u00a0(M.D. Fla. 2007) (Baker, M.J.) (\u201c[W]hile key word searching is a recognized method to winnow relevant documents from large repositories, use of this technique must be a cooperative and informed process. . . .\u00a0 Common sense dictates that sampling and other quality assurance techniques must be employed to meet requirements of completeness.\u201d).\u00a0\u00a0[emphasis added]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In accordance with this expectation, the Special Master resolved a dispute over the plaintiffs\u2019 proposed search protocols by directing the plaintiffs to define some concrete validation steps through cooperation with the defendants:<\/p>\n

\n

However, Plaintiffs\u2019 proposal\u00a0does not articulate how it will perform appropriate sampling and quality control measures to achieve the appropriate level of validation<\/strong>. \u00a0As no articulable alternative process has been proposed by Plaintiffs, the Special Master will adopt Defendants\u2019 protocol to the extent that it will\u00a0require the parties<\/strong>, at Defendants\u2019 request,\u00a0to meet and confer concerning the application of validation procedures<\/strong>\u00a0. . . . \u00a0[emphasis added]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the case of In re Mercedes-Benz Emissions Litigation, a Special Master reaffirmed the right of producing parties to choose their methods \u2013 but not without validation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":709803,"featured_media":81426,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[834,3085,460,858,873,470,875,840,853],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nCan a Party Compel Another Party\u2019s Use of TAR? - Consilio.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.consilio.com\/can-a-party-compel-another-partys-use-of-tar\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can a Party Compel Another Party\u2019s Use of TAR?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the case of In re Mercedes-Benz Emissions Litigation, a Special Master reaffirmed the right of producing parties to choose their methods \u2013 but not without validation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.consilio.com\/can-a-party-compel-another-partys-use-of-tar\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Consilio.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-07-01T15:01:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-11-07T17:54:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.consilio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Can-a-Party-Compel-Another-Partys-Use-of-TAR.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Annie Malloy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.consilio.com\/can-a-party-compel-another-partys-use-of-tar\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.consilio.com\/can-a-party-compel-another-partys-use-of-tar\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Annie Malloy\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.consilio.com\/#\/schema\/person\/56e638a0d44a5cf99c6e1e00ecd999a7\"},\"headline\":\"Can a Party Compel Another Party\u2019s Use of TAR?\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-01T15:01:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-07T17:54:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.consilio.com\/can-a-party-compel-another-partys-use-of-tar\/\"},\"wordCount\":1279,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.consilio.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.consilio.com\/can-a-party-compel-another-partys-use-of-tar\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.consilio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Can-a-Party-Compel-Another-Partys-Use-of-TAR.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Application of AI \/ TAR \/ Analytics\",\"Consilio Institute\",\"Document Review\",\"eDiscovery Analytics\",\"Law Department Management\",\"Legal Management\",\"Litigation Readiness\",\"Review, Efficiency & Quality\",\"Services & Consulting - eDiscovery\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.consilio.com\/can-a-party-compel-another-partys-use-of-tar\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.consilio.com\/can-a-party-compel-another-partys-use-of-tar\/\",\"name\":\"Can a Party Compel Another Party\u2019s Use of TAR? 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