Wake-Up Call on Slipshod Search Terms
"Given the ubiquitous use of general purpose search engines such as Google and attorneys' routine use of legal search engines such as Westlaw and LexisNexis, it is perhaps surprising that lawyers frequently falter in formulating search terms, or "keywords," designed to retrieve relevant e-mails and other electronically stored information.
Nevertheless, courts have time and again confronted haphazard and uncoordinated search methodologies for ESI.
Evidently weary of deficient keyword searches, U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew J. Peck recently issued a self-styled "wake-up call" to members of the bar in the Southern District. Instead of attorneys designing keywords without adequate information "by the seat of their pants," Peck appealed for keyword formulations based on careful thought, quality control, testing and cooperation. "
