What&#39;s the best way to summarize a lengthy exhibit when I have little understanding of its content or context?
<p>I've been assigned around 200 documents for a new matter to review. This involves creating entries for each document of interest in software called LexisNexis CaseMap, which includes a "description" field in which I am to write a brief but descriptive summary of the document. Some of these documents are very long (>100 pages) and filled with complex technical verbiage about a variety of subjects, ranging from documents that appear purely legal in nature, and contracts that encompass detailed aspects of software development. </p>

<p>While I am quite familiar with software development, I am not particularly fluent in "legalese," and even the software-related documents seem to have been drafted by lawyers.</p>

<p>I don't have context for the matter yet, and I'm not sure it is a good use of my time to read every document in detail, especially since several of the subjects are well outside of my area of expertise. </p>

<p>Do any of you with more experience have any recommendations for how I can perform this task more efficiently and more effectively? So far, many of my descriptions have been kind of vague.</p>

<p><strong>Edit:</strong> I'm not a lawyer myself. My background and experience are in Computer Science. I work for a consulting firm that supplies experts to counsel to do expert review of codebases or hardware. Unfortunately, sometimes we also need to do document review for reasons I don't exactly understand. So I'm looking for tips on getting to the meat of these documents as quickly as possible given that I'm not a lawyer.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>these documents are very long (>100 pages) and filled with complex
  technical verbiage ... several of the subjects are well outside of my
  area of expertise.</p>
  
  <p>how I can perform this task more efficiently and more effectively?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>You need to get an expert in each of those subjects. Task them to summarise the documents in plain English and answer your questions. There is no way around if you have not got a good rapport with those subjects.</p>

<p>It depends on the importance of the documents. If they are all incidental to the case, like a 200 design specifications for various products then something like "Design spec of X product" could do as a description.</p>

<p>If the documents and the facts they support are important then you'll have to go through each individually. If necessary you'll want to hire an expert to decipher them.</p>

<p>But remember to take that step only if its proportional to the importance of the document. A client might be unhappy being billed for an expert analysis of something for a fact not in dispute etc.</p>

evidence