Litigation Databases for Dummies - Part Two
Dawn Crider
CLA
a. Document Number or Document ID. Before you begin inputting information in your database, it is essential that each piece of paper contain a unique identifying number. This is commonly known as "Bates Numbering." Many outside vendors offer bates numbering at very little cost.
I have tried inputting document numbers in two different ways. In some databases, I have just used the beginning number of each document. In other instances, I have used both the beginning and ending number of the document which ultimately reflects the "range" of numbers. For example, a three-page document could be inputted as follows: 00032-00034; or 00032-34; or you could design the database to have two categories for document numbers such as "beginning number" (inputted as 00032) and "ending number" (inputted as 00034). Entering the ending number of a document can be important. For instance, two copies of a 30-page oil and gas lease may look like duplicates; however, when looking at the bates number ranges, you can see that one is 30 pages and the other is 33 pages. These are not duplicate documents. Conversely, there are reasons for not entering last numbers. You can find a document without needing to know its last number; all you need to locate a specific document is its first number. This is also an example of where typographical mistakes can happen. There are some databases, however, that will not allow you to input a document number that is not unique. This is a good feature to look for in a software program.
b. Names (To/From/CC/Reference). Names are essential to include in your database. You may wish to set up four separate fields or categories in your database entitled: To, From, CC (or Copy) and Reference. "To" refers to the recipient(s) of a letter or memo; "From" refers to the author(s) of the same. "CC" refers to whom was copied on the letter or memo; these names could also be included in the "To" category if you want the "To" category to include all recipients, thus eliminating a category that may be unnecessary. "Reference" could be included in your database to refer to all individuals who may be referenced in the document. One purpose of a "reference" category would be to identify documents that may refer to or speak about a certain key witness, yet not be directed to or authored by that person. The reference category can also be important when dealing with documents that are not specifically "to" or "from" anyone (e.g., wills, deeds, contracts, etc.). With a reference category all relevant names are identified regardless of the type of document.
One of the most important things to remember when inputting names, is that there be some type of quality control in place to eliminate mistakes. If the name of a person is misspelled in the database, you will be unable to locate that document by simply searching by the person's name. A database takes the information you input into it literally; it does not recognize whether a commonly-known surname is misspelled, or that you are referring to one person even though in several documents that person's name is spelled more than one way. Summation database software has a very helpful feature to assist you with this problem. They call it "Look-Up Tables." In a Look-Up Table, you can type in various individual's names one time and create an alphabetical index. When needing to input names, you can call up the Look-Up Table, cursor down to the person's name, and press enter which automatically inserts that person's name into the name category. This is especially helpful when you have a very long list of names or unusual or foreign names. By typing it once in the Look-Up Table, you never have to type that name again; therefore, you have eliminated an area where fatal mistakes can frequently happen.
Consistency is the key for name categories. [In fact, consistency is key for the entire database.] To keep myself consistent, I usually only input the last name of individuals or only the first initial and last name. If you do not maintain a rule regarding the way names are inputted, inconsistencies can happen easily. For example, you could input one person's name as "Joseph Smith" or "Joe Smith" or "J. Smith." When running a search for all documents authored by that person, you may have to input all three versions to be confident that you have retrieved a listing of all documents. If you had simply inputted "Smith" or "J.Smith" for each entry for that person, only one search would have accomplished it all. Using just last names works well unless you run across a case in which several individuals share the same last name. Recently, I worked on a case involving a family of seven; each had the same last name, and most even had the same first initial. Instead of using their last names, I used only their first names. It worked just as well since everyone knew who was being referred to. By using only one name, you have eliminated another opportunity for a mistake.
c. Dates. The date of your letter, memo or contract is one of the most crucial categories of your database. And, consistency is also crucial. Tip: Before you begin inputting dates into your database, read your software information very carefully. Some litigation software programs require that dates be inputted in a specific manner. Some also require that your fields or categories be designated as "date" fields or categories or they will not work for you. For example, I was recently required to redesign a database and re-input over 300 records because I had failed to "code" my date field as a date field. Without doing so, my database would not sort by date for me which was extremely important to that particular case. Examples of ways to input dates: 03/03/96; 03-03-96; Mar 03 1996; Mar 03 96; March 03, 1996. I suggest you use the form that is the easiest for you to keystroke unless your database requires something different. As a helpful guide, some database programs can recognize when dates are typed incorrectly. This is another useful feature to look for when purchasing software programs.
What do you do when you have a document that is undated? There are several ways you can handle this problem depending upon what your software allows you to do. Examples of ways to input unknown dates: 02/00/96 (day unknown); 00/00/95 (month and day unknown); 00/00/00 (all dates unknown). Sometimes I have simply typed "unknown" or "undated" in this field. Sometimes the best way to handle this problem is to approximate the date of the document by correlating it with other documents or dates of certain events that took place. You can simply refer to the date as "approx." so that you will know that the date used may not be accurate. This comes in handy when printing reports in chronological order; the document will appear in the order in which you believe it was generated. Remember that some databases simply will not allow you to enter information in a "date" field that is not in a date format (e.g., 00/00/00).
d. Issue Codes. Issue codes can be quite helpful in preparing for the deposition or trial testimony of all potential witnesses. It can also be helpful in preparing for motions for summary judgment on specific issues. However, it is also subjective. It may be something that should be done by just one person (either you or the lawyer). By coding a document by issue, you are stating that this particular document relates to the proof or non-proof of a particular issue relevant to your case. You can take your issues straight from the causes of action pled by the plaintiff and the defenses pled by the defendant. You can later run searches on your database of all documents that relate to a particular issue in your case. Tip: Make the identity of your issues simple. For example, you may wish to assign each issue a number or code so that the only thing inputted in the database is a number or a code relating to that issue (e.g., 1=Damages, 2=Liability, 3=Statute of Limitations). It is almost impossible to keep quality control over this category if you are required to type a string of words or phrases.
e. Attorney Notes. I have found that an "Attorney Notes" category is helpful especially when several lawyers are working on the same case. It is very common in my office for there to be a team of lawyers working on one case. These lawyers will usually split up deposition duty and prepare for and present different portions of the trial. When one person has reviewed a certain document and has a thought about the document that all should be aware of, you can insert that information in the attorney notes category. This is usually a narrative type category where the lawyer or legal assistant simply expresses his or her thoughts regarding the particular document.
f. Witness. This can be used as another name category. Anyone whom you or your attorney believes will be a witness at trial regarding this document can be identified in this category. This category can (and most likely will) be somewhat duplicative of your other names categories. However, this is another category that allows you to run searches on individual witnesses prior to depositions or trial.
g. Exhibits. I will usually include at least one exhibit category. After each deposition is taken and I have received copies of the exhibits from the court reporter, I will go into the database and edit each entry that was used as a deposition exhibit and insert the exhibit number. This ends up being a valuable category for creating exhibit lists. If needed, you can create another category for trial exhibits. If you renumber your exhibits for trial, this can be a valuable category for not only creating trial exhibit lists, but also for cross-referencing with your deposition exhibits.
h. Document Summary. I usually always contain a field for document summary; however, I have seen a number of databases designed by other legal assistants who do not use this type of category. In the document summary field, I briefly describe or summarize what the document is and what type of information it contains. For example a summary of a letter may contain the following information: "Memo from the CEO instructing the claims department to send a letter to the insured denying the claim and returning all premiums paid under the policy." You could easily exclude whom the letter was to or from since that information should already be included in your names fields. However, one of the purposes of this category is for someone to review a printout of the database and know what the document is without having to physically pull the document and review it. I do suggest that all superfluous information be kept out of the summary so as not to litter your database with unnecessary information.
There is virtually an unlimited amount of information or categories that can be used in your database. The above are only examples of most commonly used categories. Your case and the nature of your documents will dictate what information you need in your database. It is extremely important that you give a lot of thought when deciding upon the categories you need. Some databases will not allow you to add or change categories after you have inputted information. Maybe it's best to be overly inclusive at first so that no categories need to be added later.
Step 4. Order of information.
After you have determined the categories of information to include in your database, you must then decide upon the order that the categories will be listed or inputted. Examples of the order of categories for two database software programs are attached as Appendix A and B. The point to remember here is the flow of information. You should give a lot of thought on how to make the flow of information from the document to the computer as natural as possible. The faster you can input the information, the faster you will be finished constructing your database.
Step 5. Quality Control.
No database is complete once the information is inputted; you must institute some sort of quality control. For small databases, this may simply mean printing out all categories for every entry and then reviewing what is printed. On small databases, this can be accomplished easily by one person, and is fairly accurate if that person has not been one to actually input any information. It becomes just a matter of proofing and some mistakes are easily caught. However, when you are working with a very large database requiring several people to input information, you must establish a more formal means of quality control. It is beneficial in the beginning to have several people work in the "quality control" department; however, after review has been established and mistakes have been brought to the attention of the coders, you can then reduce the number of people proofing your data entry.
Some of the most important tools to use during quality control are the automated capabilities of your software. Use your software to its fullest extent to identify mistakes and correct them. These capabilities can be used both at the time of entry and after the data is inputted. Some examples of validation capabilities include spell checks; look-up tables; alphabetical listings of all words; and phrase lists. When using these validation techniques, variations in the data become easily identifiable.
Most database software programs allow you to run searches on your database for any information that you wish to seek. It is very helpful to be able to take your searched information and drop it into a word processing program such as Word Perfect. Once a search is in Word Perfect, you can change the format or appearance of the printout by simply using word processing techniques. Examples of search screens used in two different software programs are attached as Appendix C and D.
Search for particular documents. Your lawyer asks you to find a particular letter that he knows was written between June and September 1991 to your client from the opposing party regarding the termination of a contract. There are a number of ways you can find this document by using your database. A search string for this document could look something like this:
DATE greater than or equal to 06/01/91
AND
DATE less than 10/01/91
AND
TO contains Jones
AND
FROM contains Acme
AND
SUMMARY contains contract
Though this may appear to be a fairly lengthy search phrase, it is really a very simple search that can extract a limited number of records from a very large population.
TO contains Jones
OR
FROM contains Jones
OR
CC contains Jones
If you included a witness category in your database, your search string could be simpler and look like this:
WITNESS contains Jones
This search will give you all of the documents that you have coded as pertaining to Jones. Run this search in chronological order, and give your attorney just the print-out of your search. After your attorney has reviewed the list, he or she can highlight which documents he or she wishes to use for the upcoming deposition or trial.
Exhibit List. Your lawyer is about to run out the door headed for a deposition, but before she leaves she asks you to run an updated deposition exhibit list. You know that as each deposition has come in, you have edited the entry for each document in your database that has been marked as a deposition exhibit. The search string to use:
DEPOEXH exists
This search will pull up all documents that contain an exhibit number in the deposition exhibit category. You can then print out a list of all deposition exhibits in exhibit number order or chronological order. When preparing for trial, you can use this list when determining which documents to use as trial exhibits. If you have created a separate field for trial exhibit number, you can insert the trial exhibit number in that field and create a trial exhibit list to use for yourself, exchange with opposing counsel, and cross-reference with your deposition exhibits.
Summary Judgments. When building your database, you coded each document by issue or issues it pertained to. In preparing for a motion for summary judgment, your lawyer asks you to pull all documents relating to your defense of the statute of limitations. Your search is as simple as this:
ISSUE equals limitations
DAYS < 11
(this search gives you all entries that are 10 or less)
DAYS > 10 AND < 30
(this search gives you all entries between 11 and 29 days)
DAYS > 29
(this search gives you all entries 30 days and over)
Litigation databases are quite useful and should be used most in sizable lawsuits to help with document management. Most database programs are very flexible and will happily generate chronologies or lists of documents in any format desired. If used effectively, databases can streamline litigation in ways which used to be impossible. They can substantially reduce the amount of time spent on locating documents, and can make a large document-intensive case become easily manageable. Although database programs may seem intimidating at first, they are all really very simple to learn. As more and more people are using databases, they are becoming easier and easier to learn and use. Litigation support databases are not "for computer nerds only." When shopping for your database, remember that your colleagues are your best source of information. Do not hesitate to talk to as many legal assistants as you can that are experienced with databases.
TEXAS PARALEGAL JOURNAL
Summer 1997
©1997 Legal Assistants Division, State Bar of Texas