Situation: A large US manufacturing company announced an acquisition of a competing company based in Europe, and faced antitrust investigations from both US and European regulators.

The data spanned the globe and a number of formats, including cloud-based Microsoft 365. Having worked with FTI Technology on numerous Hart-Scott-Rodino "Second Request" investigations, the company’s global law firm selected FTI Technology as its e-discovery partner.

Solution: FTI provided an end-to-end e-discovery solution for the US and EU regulatory requests. This included:

Collections:

The FTI team went onsite to collect the relevant data in the US, while the European-based company and its firm handled the collection overseas. In the US, the company had recently deployed Microsoft 365. Working with the company’s IT team, FTI used the web tool for running searches in Microsoft 365 and found that the tool reports were inconsistent with the actual email totals. The FTI team conducted a gap analysis to determine whether there were any missing documents and then developed a workaround to collect those materials. The FTI team was then able to provide expert testimony that all relevant materials were collected.

Predictive Coding and Managed Review:

FTI utilized predictive coding to safely reduce the document set, and the team was so quick with its results that FTI was asked to assist the other company’s law firm and review team. The other team, using a common review platform, reviewed documents at a much slower pace and fell behind during the initial review. The review included several thousand documents in French.

Deposition Prep:

Using the advanced analytics within Ringtail, as well as using the other company’s review tool, the FTI team honed in on key documents to help the law firm develop a cohesive case strategy and prepare for depositions.

Project Management:

Throughout the investigation, FTI was on point for the various law firms and regulators in the US and Europe. The FTI team presented the predictive coding technology and results to the Department of Justice and convinced the agency of the accuracy of the method. FTI was also responsive to needs by the main law firm as well as a smaller firm advising on privilege.

Impact: Through predictive coding and experienced managed review teams, FTI Technology produced the materials in adherence to data privacy laws and within the deadline.

The FTI team delivered quick results for this high-stakes matter. With an eye for quality and cost-effectiveness, the FTI team began with data volumes of 11 million documents and through culling and the predictive coding, greatly reduced the document set. High-quality reviewers, utilizing advanced analytics tools, became a go-to resource for the legal teams as they learned new facts and as case strategy evolved. In total, the matter began with 11 million documents and around 500,000 documents were produced to regulators, all within the deadline.