DOCUMENT PROCESSING SYSTEM AND METHOD

1 . A method for processing electronic documents, comprising:

receiving a plurality of electronic documents stored in a storage medium;

retrieving metadata from the storage medium without extracting the plurality of electronic documents from the storage medium, the metadata indicating forensic information about the plurality of electronic documents;

presenting the metadata to a user for review;

setting an interactive filter according to user inputs that indicate a selection of forensic information of the electronic documents;

applying, by a computer without human intervention, the interactive filter to the electronic documents; and

selectively extracting, without human intervention, one or more electronic documents from the storage medium based on the application of the interactive filter.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the forensic information about the plurality of electronic documents by analyzing the metadata.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the forensic information about the plurality of electronic documents includes a list of folders storing the electronic documents and structural relationships of the folders, the structural relationships of the folders corresponding to a file system in which the electronic documents were created.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the forensic information about the plurality of electronic documents further includes a list of electronic documents stored within each folder.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the forensic information about the plurality of electronic documents further includes at least one of a document name, a document type, a file extension, a creation date and time, a last modified date and time, an indication of whether the electronic documents have been deleted, a number of all of the electronic documents, a size of all of the electronic documents.

6 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

presenting the forensic information about the plurality of electronic documents to a user through a user interface generated by a web-based application.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the applying of the interactive filter to electronic documents includes:

receiving the user inputs from a user through a user interface, the user inputs including at least a filtering criterion;

filtering the electronic documents based on the filtering criterion; and

storing filtering results in a queue waiting to be processed, the filtering results identifying a selected set of the electronic documents.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the filtering criterion includes at least one of a document name, a document type, a folder name, a custodian name, a file extension, a domain name, a date range, a time range, or a keyword.

9 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising presenting the filtering results to a user through a user interface.

10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising presenting the filtering results in substantially real time.

11 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

receiving an additional user input for adjusting the filtering result, the additional user input including an additional filtering criterion different from the filtering criterion; and

filtering the electronic documents according to the additional filtering criterion.

12 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

presenting the selectively extracted electronic documents to a user for review.

13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

generating a graphical element representing a statistical characteristic of the selectively extracted electronic documents.

14 . A computer-readable medium including computer instructions, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform a method for processing electronic documents, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of electronic documents stored in a storage medium;

retrieving metadata from the storage medium without extracting the plurality of electronic documents from the storage medium, the metadata indicating forensic information about the plurality of electronic documents;

presenting the metadata to a user for review;

setting an interactive filter according to user inputs that indicate a selection of forensic information of the electronic documents;

applying, without human intervention, the interactive filter to the electronic documents; and

selectively extracting, without human intervention, one or more electronic documents from the storage medium based on the application of the interactive filter.

15 . The computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises generating a user interface on a remote computer for presenting the forensic information about the plurality of electronic documents and the selectively extracted electronic documents to a user.

16 . The computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the applying of the interactive filter includes:

receiving the user inputs from a user through a user interface, the user inputs including at least a filtering criterion;

filtering the electronic documents based on the filtering criterion; and

storing filtering results in a queue waiting to be processed, the filtering results identifying a selected set of the electronic documents.

17 . The computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the method further comprises presenting the filtering results to the user in substantially real time through the user interface.

18 . A computer system for processing electronic documents including:

a storage medium for storing computer instructions for processing a plurality of electronic documents; and

a processor for executing the computer instructions, the computer instructions causing the processor to:

receive a plurality of electronic documents stored in a storage medium;

retrieve metadata from the storage medium without extracting the plurality of electronic documents from the storage medium, the metadata indicating forensic information about the plurality of electronic documents;

present the metadata to a user for review;

set an interactive filter according to user inputs that indicate a selection of forensic information of the electronic documents;

apply, without human intervention, the interactive filter to the electronic documents; and

selectively extracting, without human intervention, one or more electronic documents from the storage medium based on the application of the interactive filter.

19 . The computer system of claim 18 , wherein the computer instructions further cause the processor to:

create a project and one or more tasks for processing the electronic documents according to user inputs;

assign at least one of the tasks to the project.

20 . The computer system of claim 19 , wherein the computer instructions further cause the processor to:

create one or more price profiles; and

associate the price profiles with the project.

21 . A method for processing electronic documents, comprising:

executing an application for inventorying, without human intervention, a plurality of electronic documents stored on a storage medium;

generating a file set that is forensically sound and includes the plurality of electronic documents, the file set including forensic information about the plurality of electronic documents;

retrieving metadata from the file set without extracting the plurality of electronic documents from the storage medium;

making the electronic documents available, without human intervention, to a user for review;

applying, without human intervention, an interactive filter to the file set based on the metadata; and

selectively extracting, without human intervention, one or more electronic documents from the file set based on applying the interactive filter.

22 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the file set is an image file generated based on a file system associated with the storage medium.

23 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the making the electronic documents available to the user further includes presenting the metadata to the user through the web-based application.

24 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the metadata includes at least one of a document name, a document type, a file extension, a creation date and time, a last modified date and time, an indication of whether the electronic documents have been deleted, a number of all of the electronic documents, a size of all of the electronic documents.

25 . A method for processing electronic documents, comprising;

receiving a forensic copy of a plurality of electronic documents stored in as source medium;

retrieving metadata from the forensic copy without extracting the plurality of electronic documents from the source medium, the metadata indicating forensic information about the plurality of electronic documents;

presenting the metadata to a user for review;

setting an interactive filter according to user inputs that indicate a selection of forensic information of the electronic documents;

applying, by a computer without human intervention the interactive filter to the forensic copy; and

selectively extracting, without human intervention, one or more electronic documents from the source medium based on the application of the interactive filter.