Last August, when the Fall 2020 edition of Rob Robinson’s semi-annual Predictive Coding Technologies and Protocols Survey conducted by Complex Discovery came out, I was bemoaning triple-digits temps in Texas.  Now, I’m a week past low temps in the teens!  So, the first sign of Spring (via the Spring Predictive Coding Technologies and Protocols Survey), is a welcome sight too!

This is the sixth semi-annual Predictive Coding survey that Rob and ComplexD has conducted.  The six surveys have provided detailed feedback from 384 legal, business, and technology professionals on the use of specific machine learning technologies in predictive coding. The surveys have also provided insight into the use of those machine learning technologies as part of example technology-assisted review protocols.

This iteration of the survey was open from February 7 through February 18, and had 65 responders.  As always, it continued to focus on predictive coding technologies, protocols, workflows, and uses across the eDiscovery ecosystem. Here are a few highlights in terms of results:

• Over 78 percent of respondents were from law firms and software/service providers: Provider respondents led the way with 50.77%, followed by law firms at 27.69%.  So, this is a particularly provider influenced survey.
• Over a Third of Respondents Once Again Reported Relativity as Their Primary Predictive Coding Platform: 36.92% of respondents, to be exact.  Brainspace was next with 16.92% (number for both Relativity and Brainspace almost identical percentages to the last survey). Only 1.54% of respondents reported no primary predictive coding platform (a 9% drop from last time).
• More Than One-Third of Survey Responders Reported Using Predictive Coding in their eDiscovery Workflow More Than 50% of the Time: 38.46% of respondents, to be exact, almost exactly 2 percent more than last time.
• Most Respondents are “Active” When it Comes to Predictive Coding: Active Learning was reported as the most used predictive coding technology with 93.21% of responders, which is nearly 5 percent more than last time.
• Not Just for Relevancy Determination: 87.69% of responders reported using technology-assisted review in more than one area of data and legal discovery.  Still high, but over a five percent drop from last time.

Here is a link to the full survey results on ComplexD.  As usual, Rob provides charts to illustrate all the results that provide lots of additional details, so check it out!

So, what do you think?  Are you surprised by any of the results?  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by my employer, my partners or my clients. eDiscovery Today is made available solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscovery Today should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.