IN BRIEF: A RECENT DECISION IN THE SUPREME COURT OF
VICTORIA IS PAVING THE WAY FOR THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY ASSISTED
REVIEW (TAR) IN CIVIL LITIGATION WITHIN AUSTRALIA.
The decision in the case of
McConnell Dowell Constructors (Aust) Pty Ltd v Santam Ltd &
Ors is the first in Australia to order the use of
predictive coding to assist in the efficient and practical
management of large-scale litigation.
It follows the adoption of the technique in jurisdictions
including the UK in Pyrrho Investments Ltd v MWB Property Ltd
and Ireland in Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Ltd & Ors v
Quinn & Ors.
WHAT IS PREDICTIVE CODING?
Predictive coding is essentially an algorithmic tool that
utilises keyword searching to 'train' a computer to review
a set of documents and identify those documents that are relevant
to a matter. It involves the human review of an initial set of
documents with the system applying what was learnt from the initial
review to predict the relevance of
