Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%

Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.

A Primer on Foreign Language e-Discovery

By Ari Kaplan
November 26, 2007
While e-discovery may be Greek to many, it is those documents written in Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Russian that cause much of the trouble. These 'multi-byte' languages have exponentially more characters than the 26 letters and few other punctuation marks that Latin languages like English, Spanish, French and German need. In fact, the number of Chinese characters included in the Kangxi dictionary is over 47,000 (though only 3,000-4,000 are reportedly necessary for full literacy). The impact on e-discovery is significant considering the increased sophistication necessary for case evaluation.

At the most basic level, computers think in ones and zeros, with a one or zero being a bit. Eight bits is a byte. There are 256 different combinations of numbers you can create using a byte (2 (bits) to the eighth power). For languages that are not based solely on letters, i.e., those where symbols represent a concept or a syllable, you need to add bytes (256 x 256, which equals 66,536). That is the essence of multi-byte vs. single-byte languages ' single-byte languages have 256 possible combinations, while multi-byte languages have 66,536.

Confused? Then let's address codings. An encoding is a programmatical translation of what you input to what you get on the screen. The problem is when you have multiple encodings. For example, when analyzing an Outlook 2000 e-mail file (PST format) under a Japanese operating system that you then convert to an English-language machine for review, there will be problems because the native data in Japanese is corrupted due to linguistic differences.

Unicode was created to solve some of these problems and offer a universal solution; however, it is only available for files created on newer systems, making legacy data a continuing area of concern. 'Each language family has its own unique set of problems and solutions,' says Thomas Barnett, Special Counsel for Sullivan & Cromwell, LLP.

Read These Next
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws Image

This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.

The Article 8 Opt In Image

The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.

Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin Image

With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.

Legal Possession: What Does It Mean? Image

Possession of real property is a matter of physical fact. Having the right or legal entitlement to possession is not "possession," possession is "the fact of having or holding property in one's power." That power means having physical dominion and control over the property.

The Stranger to the Deed Rule Image

In 1987, a unanimous Court of Appeals reaffirmed the vitality of the "stranger to the deed" rule, which holds that if a grantor executes a deed to a grantee purporting to create an easement in a third party, the easement is invalid. Daniello v. Wagner, decided by the Second Department on November 29th, makes it clear that not all grantors (or their lawyers) have received the Court of Appeals' message, suggesting that the rule needs re-examination.