Understanding Document Statuses

In this article: Every document in Phaselaw has a status that tells you where it is in the review process. Statuses fall into three groups: upload and processing, review, excluded and error states.

Upload and processing statuses

These statuses appear while your file is being uploaded and prepared for review. You don't need to do anything during this stage.

Waiting for Document

The upload has started but hasn't finished yet.

Processing

The upload is complete and the file is in the queue for analysis.

Unpacking

The file is being unpacked — used for files uploaded in a container format such as PST or MBOX.

Converting

The file is being converted to PDF. This status only appears when you manually click Convert to PDF in the Spreadsheet Scoping Tool. → [How to Use the Spreadsheet Scoping Tool]

Analysing

Phaselaw is scanning the file for personal data to generate redaction suggestions.

Ready

Processing is complete. The document is ready for you to review.

Review statuses

These statuses reflect where a document is in your review workflow:

In Review

The document is currently being reviewed. This status is set automatically when redactions are made on a document, or can be set manually via the Document Details panel.

Review Complete

The document has been reviewed and is ready to be included in the final disclosure. This status is set automatically when all suggested redactions have been actioned, or can be set manually via the Document Details panel.

Finalizing

The document is in the process of being finalised.

Finalized

The document has been locked and is ready for export. When a document is finalised, it moves out of edit mode and redactions are locked in.

Need to make further changes? A finalised document can be unfinalized at any time, returning it to edit mode by selecting Unfinalize Document:

Excluded Statuses

These statuses indicate that a document has been removed from your active review set. Excluded documents remain in the case and are always recorded in the audit log.

Out of Scope

The document has been marked as not relevant to the request and will be excluded from the final disclosure. Out of scope documents remain in the case and are always recorded in the audit trail.

Duplicate

The document was identified as an exact copy of another file already in the case. Duplicates are automatically excluded from review. → [How Deduplication Works]

Redundant

Redundant documents apply to emails specifically. If an earlier email in a thread is fully quoted in a later reply, Phaselaw can identify it as redundant and flag it- but this requires you to run the redundancy analysis task from within your case. Redundant emails are marked out of scope when you run the Exclude Redundant Emails task. → [How to Exclude Redundant Emails]

Exempt

The document has been marked as out of scope with an exemption reason logged against it. This status appears when your policy has Require Exemption Reasons enabled.

Near-Duplicate

The document has been identified as having near-identical content to another file in the case, but with slight differences in metadata.

Error statuses

These statuses indicate that something went wrong during processing. If you encounter one, you can attempt an automated repair or download the original file from the Errors table.

Analysis Failed

Phaselaw was unable to scan the file for personal data.

Conversion Failed

The file could not be converted into a review-ready PDF.

Finalization Failed

Something went wrong while finalising the document.

Unknown Failure

An unexpected error occurred.

If you see any error status, go to the Errors table to attempt an automated repair or download the original file for troubleshooting:

If the issue persists, get in touch with our Support Team using our in-app chat or by emailing support@phase.law.