Analyzing Incoming Productions in Construction Litigation: Tips, Tricks, and Technology

Construction disputes often involve a staggering variety and amount of data. From blueprints, CAD drawings, schedules, change orders, emails, photos, videos, mobile data, collaboration data, and project files from dozens of parties. With so many moving parts, the initial review of incoming productions can feel overwhelming. But with the right approach from your Page One team and the right technology in RelativityOne, attorneys can quickly identify the key facts, documents, and communication threads that drive case strategy forward.

1. Start with File Type Analysis

Not all files are created equal. Before diving into review, use RelativityOne’s file type filters and dashboards to quickly understand what’s been produced.

• Identify image-only or non-text files. File types like .pdf, .tif, .jpeg, and many CAD formats (e.g., .dwg, .dxf, .slddrw) often lack searchable text. Flagging these early helps you plan for OCR, translation, or expert interpretation. Look for files that could potentially have minimal text for images as well.

• Segment engineering and design files. Specialized files that may require an expert to review. Recognizing them upfront saves time later when assigning review to subject-matter experts.

2. Leverage Date Range and Custodian Filters

Construction projects unfold over months or years, often involving multiple contractors and subcontractors. Applying date filters keyed to project milestones, contract signing, change orders, delays, or payment disputes, immediately narrows your scope. Use custodian/all custodian filtering to focus on specific project managers, engineers, or vendors whose data aligns with critical periods in the dispute.

3. Apply Keyword and Concept Searches Strategically

Keyword searching remains a powerful first pass for isolating relevant communications and documents. Combine search terms with project-specific language and use proximity operators to capture nuanced discussions. Concept searches and clustering can also reveal similar documents that keywords miss, ensuring no corner of the production goes unnoticed.

4. Use Email Threading to Reduce Review Volume

Email threading is one of the most effective ways to streamline review in large construction matters. By grouping related communications into conversation threads, you can identify the unique, most complete message in each chain and skip redundant earlier versions. This reduces review volume, accelerates insights, and maintains context across lengthy project discussions.

5. Unlock Insights with aiR for Case Strategy

Relativity’s aiR for Case Strategy can transform into actionable intelligence. By analyzing documents and extracting key facts, people, and dates, aiR can generate a case timeline that helps attorneys visualize the sequence of events from bid proposals to completion disputes. This capability is especially valuable in construction cases where cause-and-effect relationships are critical to understanding liability.

6. Accelerate Review with aiR for Review

When time is short and data is vast, aiR for Review can help legal teams find the “needle in the haystack.” The tool uses generative AI to help locate relevant, key or issues. Attorneys can quickly locate key materials out of an incoming production set.

Bringing It All Together

Analyzing incoming productions is about more than just organizing data, it’s about finding meaning fast. By partnering with experienced Page One project managers, attorneys gain guidance from professionals who know how to leverage RelativityOne’s analytics tools and AI-driven insights from aiR for Case Strategy and aiR for Review to their fullest potential. For construction litigation teams, that means moving from data chaos to case clarity. Faster, smarter, and with confidence.