TAR Gets a Boost from Down Under

TAR Gets a Boost from Down Under

Since 2012 when U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Peck issued the first court decision approving the use of technology-assisted review for e-discovery, judicial approval of the technology’s use has continued. Just this past January, an Australian court’s formal Practice Note further validated the use of TAR.

Legaltech News reports that for some time Australia has been on the verge of a “TAR revolution,” especially after the United States, United Kingdom and Ireland approved the use of TAR. The two cases responsible for paving the way for TAR in Australia were from 2016: Money Max Pty Ltd. v. QBE Insurance Group Ltd. and McConnell Dowell Constructors v. Santam Ltd. Ors.

The report notes that the justice in the latter case proactively ordered the plaintiff to use TAR to review 1.4 million documents and also appointed a special referee to oversee the process. The justice cited several international cases in his approval of TAR and gave a green light for TAR in the future by ruling that the court may order the technology’s use for discovery without either party’s consent.

The Supreme Court of Victoria’s formal Practice Note on the use of technology further supports and promotes the use of TAR, detailing a variety of acceptable methodologies, especially for larger cases.

Per Legaltech News, the Practice Note results in four specific items of note for e-discovery in the Asia Pacific region:

1. Legal technology is brought into sharper focus
2. Mainstream adoption of analytics is even closer
3. There are significant opportunities for practice and thought leaders to emerge
4. The bar has been raised for courts throughout the Asia Pacific region.

While TAR is gaining traction in that part of the world, there continues to be many questions stateside on just how it works and best practices. To learn how it works, when you should be using it and some real-world examples, download LLM’s Mini Book, “Clearing the Confusion: TAR.”

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