Document processing system and method

A non-transitory computer-readable medium including computer instructions, which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method for processing electronic documents, the method comprising:

• identifying one or more custodians;
• collecting electronic documents for one or more of the custodians;
• receiving a plurality of the collected electronic documents;
• storing the plurality of electronic documents in a file container created based on a file system;
• identifying one or more user inputs;
• identifying one or more filtering criteria based on the user inputs;
• retrieving metadata firm the file container, the metadata indicating forensic information about the plurality of electronic documents;
• filtering the metadata according to the one or more filtering criteria to generate a filtering result including filtered metadata, the filtered metadata corresponding to portion of the received electronic documents;
• calculating one or more statistical characteristics of the portion of the received electronic documents based on the filtered metadata, the one or more statistical characteristics including a total number of the portion of the received electronic documents associated with at least one of a number of different document types, a number of custodians, and a number of domain names;
• displaying and updating, in a user interface, as the filtering is carried out, a graphical representation one or more statistical characteristics of the portion of the received electronic documents;
• and selectively extracting one or more of the portion of the received electronic documents from the file container according to the filtering result and based on the graphical representation,
• wherein the user interface also displays a graphical element showing a size of the electronic documents before collection, a size of the electronic documents after collection, and a size of the electronic documents after filtering.

A computer system for processing electronic documents including:

• a storage medium for storing computer instructions for processing electronic documents;
• and
• a processor for executing the computer instructions, the computer instructions causing the processor to:
• identify one or more custodians;
• collect electronic documents for one or more of the custodians;
• receive a plurality of the collected electronic documents:
• store the plurality of electronic documents in a file container created based on a file system;
• identify one or more user inputs;
• identify one or more filtering criteria based on the user inputs;
• retrieve metadata from the file container, the metadata indicating forensic information about the plurality of the received electronic documents;
• filter the metadata according to the one or more filtering criteria to generate a filtering result including filtered metadata, the filtered metadata corresponding to a portion of the received electronic documents;
• calculate one or more statistical characteristics of the portion of the received electronic documents based on the filtered metadata, the one or more statistical characteristics including a total number of the portion of the received electronic documents associated with at least one of a number of different document types, a number of custodians, and a number of domain names;
• display and update, in a user interface, as the filtering is carried out, a graphical representation of the one or more statistical characteristics of the portion of the received electronic documents;
• and
• selectively extract one or more of the portion of the received electronic documents from the file container according to the filtering result and based on the graphical representation,
• wherein the user interface also displays a graphical element showing a size of the electronic documents before collection, a size of the electronic documents after collection, and a size of the electronic documents after filtering.

A method for processing electronic documents for e-discovery, comprising:

• identifying one or more custodians;
• collecting electronic documents for one or more of the custodians;
• receiving a plurality of the collected electronic documents;
• storing the plurality of collected electronic documents in a file container created based on a file system;
• identifying one or more user inputs;
• identifying one or more filtering criteria based on the user inputs;
• retrieving metadata from the file container, the metadata indicating forensic information about the plurality of the received electronic documents;
• filtering the metadata according to the one or more filtering criteria to generate a filtering result including filtered metadata, the filtered metadata corresponding to a portion of the received electronic documents;
• calculating one or more statistical characteristics of the portion of the received electronic documents based on the filtered metadata, the one or more statistical characteristics including a total number of the portion of the received electronic documents associated with at least one of a number of different document types, a number of custodians, and a number of domain names;
• displaying and updating, as the filtering is carried out, a graphical representation of the one or more statistical characteristics of the portion of the received electronic documents, and a graphical representation of a structure of the file system with the portion of the received electronic documents being displayed in respective folders included in the file system;
• and
• selectively extracting one or more of the portion of the received electronic documents from the file container according to the filtering result and based on the graphical representations,
• wherein method also includes displaying a graphical element showing a size of the electronic documents before collection, a size of the electronic documents after collection, and a size of the electronic documents after filtering.

A method for processing electronic documents, comprising:

• identifying one or more custodians;
• collecting electronic documents for one or more of the custodians;
• receiving a plurality of the collected electronic documents;
• storing the plurality of collected electronic documents in a file container created based on a file system;
• identifying one or more user inputs;
• identifying one or more filtering criteria based on the user inputs;
• retrieving metadata from the file container, the metadata indicating forensic information about the plurality of the received electronic documents;
• filtering the metadata according to the one or more filtering criteria to generate a filtering result including filtered metadata, the filtered metadata corresponding to a portion of the received electronic documents;
• calculating one or more statistical characteristics of the portion of the received electronic documents based on the filtered metadata, the one or more statistical characteristics including a total number of the portion of the received electronic documents associated with at least one of a number of different document types, a number of custodians, and a number of domain names;
• displaying and updating, in a user interface, as the filtering is carried out, a graphical representation of the one or more statistical characteristics of the portion of the received electronic documents;
• and
• selectively extracting one or more of the portion of the received electronic documents from the file container according to the filtering result and based on the graphical representation,
• wherein the user interface also displays a graphical element showing a size of the electronic documents before collection, a size of the electronic documents after collection, and a size of the electronic documents after filtering.