System and method for leveraging historical data to determine affected entities

• US 8,200,690 B2
• Filed: 06/23/2008
• Issued: 06/12/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Paknad, Deidre, Raynaud-Richard, Pierre
• Primary Examiner(s): HICKS, MICHAEL J
• Application Number:
  US12/214,935
• Publication Number:
  US 20080288479A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,450 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/768
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

Systems and methods for leveraging historical data to determine affected entities is provided. In exemplary embodiments, a current matter is created. When creating the current matter, at least one initial scope parameter for the current matter is known. Historical data associated with the at least one initial scope parameter may then be accessed and review. Based on the historical data, one or more refined scope parameter may be determined. A list of affected entities based at least on the one or more refined scope parameter is provided.

Claims

1. A method for leveraging historical data to determine affected entities, comprising:

receiving at least one initial scope parameter for a current legal matter of an enterprise via a communications interface of at least one digital device;

deriving a first list of affected entities associated with the current legal matter based on the at least one initial scope parameter, an affected entity comprising at least one of an employee who may have relevant data and an affected system where potentially relevant information may reside;

executing instructions stored in memory on a processor to;

access historical data associated with the first list of affected entities derived based on the at least one initial scope parameter, the historical data comprising generated information based on tracking of actions performed within the enterprise as depicted in an enterprise map that represents relationships between people, repositories, organizations, and documents of the enterprise; and

determine one or more refined scope parameter based on the historical data by cross-referencing the at least one initial scope parameter with at least one of the historical data and the enterprise map; and

providing a second list of affected entities based at least on the one or more refined scope parameter to the at least one digital device via the communications interface, each affected entity on the second list of affected entities listed also on the first list of affected entities.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one refined parameter comprises an affected entity.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising capturing and storing the historical data.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein capturing the historical data comprises tracking actions performed with respect to previous legal matters.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising creating a new legal matter associated with the at least one initial scope parameter.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising using the generated list of affected entities to further refine the at least one initial scope parameter using the historical data.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein determining at least one refined scope comprises using results of a previous derivation.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the results comprise a list of one or more affected objects.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein determining at least one refined scope comprises generating a list of affected entities using the initial scope parameters.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein determining at least one refined scope comprises identifying past affiliation of affected entities.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein determining at least one refined scope comprises extracting refined scope parameters based on the historic data for a known previous legal matter.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein determining at least one refined scope comprises identifying the at least one refined scope parameter based on similar patterns of relationships shared with the initial scope parameters.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising ranking the at least one refined scope parameter based on a strength of correlation.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein determining at least one refined scope parameter comprises utilizing a similar matter correlation process to determine the at least one refined scope parameter.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein determining at least one refined scope parameter comprises reviewing previously collected data associated with previous legal matters.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein providing the list of affected entities comprises deriving the list based, at least, on the refined scope parameters.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising utilizing the enterprise map to search for the refined scope parameters.

18. The method of claim 1 further comprising generating workflow based on the list of affected entities.

19. A system for leveraging historical data to determine affected entities, comprising:

a server coupled to one or more network-enabled digital devices, the server comprising;

a scope management module configured to receive at least one initial scope parameter for a current legal matter of an enterprise;

a historical data module configured to track actions associated with previous legal matters to create and maintain historical data, the historical data comprising generated information based on tracking of actions performed within the enterprise on previous legal matters depicted in an enterprise map that represents relationships between people, repositories, organizations, and documents of the enterprise; and

a derivation module configured to determine one or more refined scope parameter based on the historical data by cross-referencing the at least one initial scope parameter with at least one of the historical data and the enterprise map, and configured to derive a first list of affected entities associated with the current legal matter based on the at least one initial scope parameter, an affected entity comprising at least one of an employee who may have relevant data and an affected system where potentially relevant information may reside and provide a second list of affected entities based at least on the one or more refined scope parameter, each affected entity on the second list of affected entities listed also on the first list of affected entities.

20. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having embodied thereon a program, the program executable by a processor to perform a method for leveraging historical data to determine affected entities, the method comprising:

receiving at least one initial scope parameter for a current legal matter of an enterprise;

accessing historical data associated with the at least one initial scope parameter, the historical data comprising generated information based on tracking of actions performed within the enterprise on previous legal matters depicted in an enterprise map that represents relationships between people, repositories, organizations, and documents of the enterprise;

determining one or more refined scope parameter based on the historical data by cross-referencing the at least one initial scope parameter with at least one of the historical data and the enterprise map;

deriving a first list of affected entities associated with the current legal matter based on the at least one initial scope parameter, an affected entity comprising at least one of an employee who may have relevant data and an affected system where potentially relevant information may reside; and

providing a second list of affected entities based at least on the one or more refined scope parameter, each affected entity on the second list of affected entities listed also on the first list of affected entities.