In the ops leads chat, the vice president of operations told the others to keep the subject out of email, then deleted it at 4:21 PM. Restored, it is line 6 of a hot slice.
Nine stages of chat review
Slack eDiscovery on nine screens, from the export to a signed volume
Each screen takes one stage of chat review, from load to production, and names who works there and what it spares them.
- 01Threads rebuilt
Slack, Teams and phone threads rebuilt in the order they were sent
How it works
- Reads the enterprise Slack export, the Teams export with its edit history and four phone extractions
- Rebuilds 2,100,000 messages into 48,300 conversations: threads, replies and channel-days
- Counts each source: 1,240,000 Slack, 712,400 Teams and 147,600 phone messages
Litigation support analystHands reviewers whole conversations from nine custodians. A flat load would give them 2.1M separate lines with no thread around any of them.
- 02Handles and coverage
Each person's handles matched, and a phone's missing week flagged
How it works
- Ties 27 handles, display names and phone numbers to the 9 custodians
- Draws coverage one cell per week, chat and phone apart
- Marks the week a replaced iPhone holds no messages, in red
- Sends that gap to the project manager as a preservation question
eDiscovery project managerLearns about a missing week of texts early enough to explain it, before the other side finds the gap in the production.
- 03Edits and deletions
Edits and deletions shown with the original wording, author and minutes
How it works
- Restores 1,960 edits and 412 deletions across all 2.1M messages
- Sets the original beside what the export shows today, with who and when
- Counts 37 edits and 9 deletions inside the 212 relevant slices
- Charts time to delete: 141 within a minute, 118 within five
Contract reviewerSees the words a manager deleted two minutes after sending them, where the export keeps only a note that a message was deleted.
- 04Proposed slices
Slices proposed with a written reason for where each starts and ends
How it works
- Cuts 48,300 conversations into 6,400 slices worth reading, about 14 messages each
- Draws each channel-day as a ribbon, colored by code
- Explains a start in words: 74 minutes of silence, then a change of topic
- Follows the matter's rules: a 45-minute silence, at most 60 messages
eDiscovery project managerCan show the other side what each reviewer read and why each unit begins and ends, before anyone challenges the review unit.
- 05Conversation replay
A chat replayed as it happened, with deleted lines back in place
How it works
- Shows the chat as its members saw it, with avatars, reactions and replies
- Puts line 6 back in gray: deleted at 4:21 PM, 2 min after sending
- Shows line 9 with its first wording struck through, edited 6 min later
- Marks the 74 and 49 minutes of silence on either side
Contract reviewerReads the exchange together, so a one-word reply is judged against the deleted line it answers.
- 06Slice coded hot
A whole slice coded as one decision, each reason cited to a line
How it works
- Agents propose relevant and hot, citing lines 3, 6, 9 and 12
- The reviewer can move the bracket's start or end one message at a time
- One code covers all 14 messages: not relevant, relevant or hot
- A hot slice goes to a second reviewer; privilege goes to an attorney
Contract reviewerMakes one call on the whole exchange, so no line is coded cut off from the lines around it.
- 07Review progress
Review progress counted in slices against the volume's due date
How it works
- Plots slices coded each working day toward the due date
- Lists each reviewer's pace and how often they changed the agents' proposal
- Sets 89,600 single-line decisions beside 6,400 slice decisions
- Reads 10% of not-relevant slices a second time: 2 of 640 overturned
eDiscovery project managerKnows whether six reviewers will finish before the volume is due, and has the quality checks to show the client behind each code.
- 08Privilege calls
Privilege calls on every relevant slice where in-house counsel appears
How it works
- Flags counsel in the conversation and any request for legal advice
- Proposes withhold or redact, with the basis in plain words
- The attorney withholds 6 and redacts 13, each call marked as theirs
- Previews each redaction burned in and labeled with its basis
Privilege attorneySees who asked counsel for advice in each chat and makes each call without hunting for counsel's name in a line-by-line export.
- 09Production volume
A volume packaged in the protocol's unit, held for the manager's signature
How it works
- Takes the 206 produced slices: 212 relevant, less 6 withheld
- Expands each to its channel-day: 171 channel-days, 7,480 messages
- Renders RSMF with a PDF of each thread, edits and deletions as metadata
- Numbers 171 files and holds them until the project manager signs
eDiscovery project managerProduces in the unit the protocol agreed while review ran on smaller slices, and signs only once the last privilege call is made.