From Small Case to Massive Litigation
A sole practitioner in a remote community used Delium to manage an unexpectedly massive case, seamlessly scaling from 10,000 to over a million documents.
The Challenge
A boutique sole practitioner, working with limited technical resources in a remote community, took on what was initially considered a small government case. Committed to managing the case electronically, he wanted to ensure:
- A unified case framework – so all team members worked within a single, structured environment.
- Efficient document management – identifying duplicate documents, parallel records, and document chains to streamline legal analysis.
- Comprehensive discovery – recognizing missing documents from both sides to reduce evidentiary gaps.
- Consistent collaboration – ensuring all legal analysis and commentary was captured in a single, accessible platform.
However, what started as an estimated 10,000-document discovery quickly exploded into over a million records, spread across multiple government agencies and a vast archive facility. As the case’s scale became evident, top-tier legal teams from multiple cities were brought in, alongside globally distributed experts and witnesses.
This sudden expansion raised a critical question: Could Delium scale to handle a case that had grown far beyond its original scope?
Delium Strategy
Despite being commissioned for a small case, Delium seamlessly scaled without requiring additional infrastructure or database modifications.
To manage the overwhelming volume of evidence, Delium facilitated:
- A team of 30 paralegals to objectively code the million documents, ensuring accuracy and consistency.
- A consistent and collaborative approach for a team of 25 lawyers and barristers to review and analyse the million documents.
- Document categorisation – classifying over 177 diverse document types into 43 structured categories for faster searching and retrieval.
- Advanced document relationships recording, extending beyond simple email duplicates to:
- Document chains – linking letters and other aged correspondence to track evolving discussions.
- Parallel documents – consolidating multiple perspectives of the same meetings based on different attendees’ notes.
- Privilege and confidentiality basis tracking, allowing instant identification of similarly coded documents if privilege was challenged.
Although initially set up for just 10 lever-arch files, Delium effortlessly absorbed and processed over a million additional documents. The entire case lifecycle, from collection to trial presentation, was handled within the same database and platform – without requiring system upgrades, additional servers, or costly modifications.
The Benefits
- Seamless scalability – Delium expanded to accommodate a case 100 times larger than expected, without added complexity or investment.
- Efficient collaboration – A geographically spread legal team worked together as if in the same office, with instant access to shared analysis.
- User-friendly interface – Even a self-proclaimed non-tech-savvy lawyer could independently produce the results he needed.
- Reduced costs – Remote access eliminated the need for excessive travel, significantly cutting client litigation expenses.
- More time for legal strategy – By automating evidence processing, Delium freed legal professionals to focus on case strategy, not administrative tedium.
Reflections from Participants
The sole practitioner and members of the extended legal team were amazed at how Delium adapted to the case’s rapid growth, praising its efficiency, ease of use, and impact on collaboration:
- “We needed a litigation support environment that would capitalise on our specialist capabilities and perform under very taxing circumstances. Delium delivered what we needed!”
- “Delium comfortably met the challenges presented as the case grew.”
- “With Delium, the geographically spread team could work together very nearly as if we were in the one room.”
- “I am not a computer whizz, but with very little training, I was able to produce the results I needed—the software was so easy to use that most of the time, I just didn’t need any assistance.”
- “Delium took the tedium out of Discovery, leaving the legal professionals free to concentrate on issues, law, and legal tactics.”
- “Using Delium significantly reduced our client’s cost of running the proceedings because most of the time, we could work from offices in our home cities rather than traveling to work together.”
What began as a small, localised case evolved into a major litigation effort spanning multiple jurisdictions and over a million documents. Thanks to Delium’s scalable and intuitive platform, the legal team adapted without disruption, proving that even the smallest firms can tackle the most complex cases when equipped with the right technology.
