Image: Tilman Piesk
Correction: This story originally stated that Catalyst's technology evolved from work done at Xerox and Fuji. It did not. -EK
Now that the basic concepts of predictive coding have seen some judicial approval, LegalTech attendees can expect to see some fresh angles on the controversial technology at the Hilton New York from January 29 to 31.
Predictive coding — software using data analytics, guided by attorneys, to find relevant case documents — was all the rage at LegalTech New York in January 2012. By the end of the year, almost every major e-discovery company developed its own system, or licensed software from companies such as Content Analyst Co., Equivo Inc., and OrcaTec. A trend shaping up for LegalTech 2013 are systems that offer alternatives to the current approaches.
Several companies began describing their approaches ahead of the conference and will reveal details in the days, weeks, and months ahead.
For example, Catalyst Repository Systems Inc. is one of dozens that license Equivio's Relevance product. But at the show, Catalyst will introduce its own predictive coding system, called Insight Predict. "It's probably as different as you can get," said Catalyst CEO John Tredennick.
"The system's built in a big cloud, where we're ranking all your millions of documents, every time," said Tredennick, who revealed the project in August. "Some other systems use 10,000 documents and call that representative, which we question," he continued. "The whole key is we can do this against any volume of documents quickly, and you just can't with the appliances."
Denver-based Catalyst will show the new application at LegalTech and plans to ship it by late February. Catalyst will continue supporting Equivio Relevance if customers request it, but, "Our focus is on Insight Predict," Tredennick added.
John Felahi, senior vice president of products at Reston, Va.-based Content Analyst, said his company is starting to differentiate itself by making its technology compatible with open-source data visualization software. Content Analyst's predictive coding software is licensed by name brands such as iConect, Ipro Tech Inc., and kCura Corp., he noted. "You'll start seeing it in partner products at the show, and into the year," Felahi said. Michael Schubert, vice president of software development at IPro, added that his version is due in April and will suggest data relevance decisions based on what other system users have previously decided.
Nuix is also debuting an alternative predictive coding approach next week, based on technology from records management techniques and spam filters, CEO Eddie Sheehy said Thursday.
What if predictive coding isn't necessarily the best way to perform a technology-assisted review? Andy Kraftsow, chief scientist at RenewData Corp., said at LegalTech in 2012 that he believes traditional keyword search can be just as efficient as predictive coding. Now, ahead of LegalTech 2013, Kraftsow said he's got "a new trick" to make keyword search potentially more efficient than predictive coding.
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