What is the primary objective of the Processing stage?

• A. Evaluate ESI for relevance
• B. Deliver to others
• C. Reduce the volume of ESI and convert forms
• D. Display ESI to audiences

Answer: (C)

Processing in eDiscovery focuses on getting raw ESI into a workable, searchable set by shrinking the data and standardizing formats. This stage reduces duplicates and nonessential items, converts a wide range of file types into uniform, review-friendly formats, and extracts metadata and text for indexing. By cutting volume and normalizing forms, the data becomes manageable for searching, reviewing, and eventual production. The other activities—evaluating relevance, distributing data, or displaying it to audiences—come in later stages and are not the primary goal of processing.