Electronic Evidence Discovery, Inc., provider of e-discovery services and software for corporations and law firms, has released the next generation of its electronic discovery software platform, EED Discovery version 4.0. Corporations and law firms use EED Discovery for litigation support, responses to regulatory requests, and internal investigations.

"This new version of EED Discovery enables companies to cut the cost and risk of electronic discovery requests for litigation matters and regulatory compliance," said John Jessen, CEO of EED. "It provides control over a process that has been chaotic, extremely costly and, when not handled properly, can result in devastating sanctions and loss of shareholder value."

EED Discovery installs on the corporate network and connects directly to network accessible data sources so companies can permanently configure and automate the collection and preservation of electronic content. Common data sources include: Microsoft Outlook (PST)/Exchange Lotus Notes (NSF)/Domino e-mail archives, network file shares, and desktops. It lets companies conduct collection, preservation, processing, review, and production activities defensibly and cost effectively. By automating the eDiscovery processes within the organization, corporations can respond more quickly to discovery requests, eliminate IT fire-drills and reduce litigation expenses for outsourced services and discovery review counsel.

Law firms can deliver e-discovery, hosted native file processing, review and production capabilities as an in-house solution.

Features of the new EED Discovery version 4.0 platform include:

• Expanded project management allows project managers to maintain start-to-finish control over any size e-discovery project.
• Customizable workflow templates ensure consistent results across.
• Enhanced reporting allows real-time progress tracking of discovery, review and production.
• Automated recursion to ensure that all data is fully processed and tracked before search and review.
• Hit-highlighting and support for rich-text email allows reviewers to identify and classify important content.
• Rich Text formatting extraction (bold, underline, italics, color, etc.) for use in review and production.
• Improved search editing functionality allows non-technical users to create complex searches using SQL queries.
• Improved Microsoft Excel text extraction allows complex spreadsheet formatting and calculations to be captured and retained during review and evidence production phases.
• Improved flexibility in the Production Manager Module enables customers to create their own reformatting options.