Last year was a landmark year for predictive coding within the judicial system. Five cases, in different regions and with varied subject material, directly addressed the use of predictive coding in discovery practice. As 2013 begins, the progress of these cases, and the way in which predictive coding is implemented, will determine whether it will make the jump from an exciting, cost-effective technological innovation to an established discovery tool with statistically defensible results.
In some cases, the inability of parties to agree on predictive coding has brought discovery to a standstill and forced courts to weed through infinite discovery motions. In the cases where predictive coding remains part of the discovery process, the courts have pushed the parties into a collaborative approach.
