Situation: A large energy industry company planned to acquire a competitor.

Given the size of the companies and the likely impact of the deal across the market, the companies anticipated regulatory scrutiny in the form of a Department of Justice (DOJ) antitrust “Second Request” investigation.

Facing large data volumes, a tight deadline and pressure from regulators, the company and its law firm turned to FTI Technology for a holistic e-discovery solution.

The FTI Technology team leveraged its expertise working on complex Second Request investigations to offer a complete e-discovery solution. This included:

Collection:

FTI Technology’s team collected terabytes (TB) of data across the United States, Europe and Asia. This encompassed many data formats, including mobile devices and structured data from proprietary enterprise applications. The data was collected in adherence to local data privacy laws.

Processing:

Using the powerful Ringtail e-discovery software, the data was processed (including 19 TBs of data within a single month), reduced significantly, and then prepared for review by an expert team.

Predictive coding:

Technology assisted review (TAR), leveraging FTI’s standard Second Request TAR playbook, was used to effectively capture the relevant materials while reducing compliance time and costs.

Managed Review:

FTI Technology’s managed review team created a dedicated review center in the Washington, D.C. area, complete with infrastructure and equipment, in less than three weeks. More than 250 qualified review attorneys managed millions of documents through the predictive coding process and reviewed the materials. Even as new data was needed, and the legal team’s strategy changed, the managed review team was flexible and responsive to meet the client’s needs.

Production:

Within the agreed upon timeframe, millions of documents were produced to the DOJ.

Impact: On-time production of materials with more than $10 million in cost savings.

With a focus on speed, cost control and quality, the FTI Technology team fulfilled the DOJ’s Second Request requirements within the timeframe, and ultimately saved the client more than $10 million in costs. By partnering with the law firm and company, advising on the use of predictive coding, and securing the DOJ’s approval to apply predictive coding, FTI Technology demonstrated its market leadership and dedication to customer service. Through a fluid, high-stakes regulatory investigation, the FTI Technology team exhibited tremendous flexibility, creativity and adaptability, even as directions changed.