Early Case Assessment (ECA)

Definition(s)

• An industry-specific term generally used to describe a variety of tools or methods for investigating and quickly learning about a Document Collection for the purposes of estimating the risk(s) and cost(s) of pursuing a particular legal course of action. ¹
• A widely abused term in which corporate data is sifted and categorized with a view to determining an organisation’s exposure in the context of a dispute. The best ECA systems allow the sifting to take place within a corporation’s own data store and can be used to drill down rapidly to identify the most pertinent evidentiary material and to facilitate decisions whether to litigate or settle. ²

Notes

1. Maura R. Grossman and Gordon V. Cormack, EDRM page & The Grossman-Cormack Glossary of Technology-Assisted Review, with Foreword by John M. Facciola, U.S. Magistrate Judge, 2013 Fed. Cts. L. Rev. 7 (January 2013).
2. LitSavant Ltd., Glossary, http://www.litsavant.com/full-glossary.aspx