Getting Results – Using sophisticated technology to save costs and get a big jury win

A JMBM team representing Los Angeles orthopedic surgeon Dr. Gary K. Michelson won a jury trial verdict of $570 million (including $400 million in punitive damages), one of the largest in the country that year, against Medtronic Sofamor Danek, Inc. in a dispute over contract claims and patent rights involving spinal fusion implant technology. The complex case involved more than 20 different claims between the parties, and our lawyers faced a search of nearly 50 million electronic pages, while mastering numerous and interrelated contracts and dozens of patents, and tracking thousands of pleadings, motions and exhibits.

To find the key documents during a tight four-month review timeframe, we chose to use an innovative, sophisticated software application, Attenex® Patterns®, to quickly and effectively locate the most relevant documents. The software gave us a visual understanding of the full case documentation, displaying how the documents related to each other and enabling us to both find and browse the same documents using selected key concepts.

The electronic review, including attorney review time and hardware and software costs, was significantly less expensive than traditional document review. Our use of technology in the Michelson case led to JMBM’s selection as a co-recipient of the Law Technology News 2005 Technology Award in the “Most Innovative Use of Technology During a Trial” category.