Document review (also known as doc review) is a task performed by attorneys in anticipation of legal proceedings or during the discovery phase of litigation. Document review requires the attorneys to assess the relevance and/or responsiveness of documents, using knowledge about the facts of the case and the issues of law. Later stages of document review (sometimes called privilege review or second level review) consider whether a document is privileged (on the basis of attorney-client communication and/or work product) and may be either withheld from production or redacted for content. Some law firms also utilize document reviewers to do more substantive work, depending on the experience of the reviewer. The actual review of the documents is performed either electronically (e-mails, files, scanned copies of documents) or manually.
Document review is often performed by temporary, or contract attorneys. The hourly rate for such attorneys depends heavily on the metropolitan area in which the project is located, the particular client for the project, the agency which staffs the project, and law firm performing the review. The pay can vary anywhere from $20 to $55 per hour, which is influenced by a variety of factors from geographic location, subject matter of the case and scope and length of the review. Projects requiring specialized knowledge or fluency in a foreign language can reach $50 to $90 per hour. Some projects increase the hourly rate for overtime hours worked; some do not. Projects can range in length from a few days to several years.
Document review projects are located throughout the United States, most commonly in New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Phoenix, Kansas City, Columbus, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, and Newark. Document review projects may also be outsourced from United States law firms to Asian countries, most notably India, in an attempt to cut costs.
Document reviews also take place throughout Canada. These are done within the law firms themselves utilizing various review software, or by using legal service providers to host data, which can then be reviewed online via the internet. Review software offers editing capabilities and the choice is whether to invest in review software or pay a service provider to host the data, and also to maintain it - reducing IT maintenance costs and infrastructure.