While working with legal documents, you may receive files from various sources and in various formats. Being able to identify the format is helpful as it can ensure you are not losing out on any information contained in, or relating to, the files.


Why are productions split into these folders?

When receiving a production, you may find the files separated into folders named similarly to: "DATA", "IMAGES", "NATIVES", and "TEXT" - this may either be as separate folders, or more commonly, zipped together in a .zip file.

Structuring of folders in this manner indicates it's (most likely) a special, semi-standard format for legal productions known as a "load file" production.


In such a case, there is typically also a "load file" that should be found alongside the folders with a file extension such as .dat, .opt, or .lfp.


Load files contain additional information about the files in the production, and how they relate to each other.


Learn more about load file productions and how they may be formatted here.


Viewing and reviewing files in a load file production

Viewing files in a load file production can be complicated, as much of the information about a file is stored separately to the file itself in the "load file". Furthermore, there may be many versions of a single file (e.g. both the "text" version of a .pdf file containing just the raw text as well as the "native" version of the file.) 


To view/ review files that are contained in the load file production, you will need to need to first upload the production to an eDiscovery software (for example, GoldFynch.) The eDiscovery software will then process the production using the load file as a reference so that the additional information it contains is made available - data like which files are related to each other (e.g. attachments to emails, files that are zipped together, etc.), any comments or redactions that were attached to files, etc. This makes viewing and reviewing all relevant information much easier.


To learn what happens when you import a load file production to GoldFynch, click here. 


Uploading and importing productions into eDiscovery software

  • Prior to uploading your load file production to your preferred eDiscovery platform, you will need to find out if there are any preferred formatting specifications for load file productions for the platform.

    For example, with GoldFynch, we require data in as near-to-native a format as possible in order to preserve as much of the original file metadata and forensic information as possible. 

    You can learn more about GoldFynch's preferred file formatting for importing load file productions here.

  • Once you determine this and format your files according to the formatting specifications, upload them to the platform
  • After the files are uploaded, you may need to request an "import" of the uploaded files to link the load file and production together in the eDiscovery software in a way that is conducive for review.

    Here's a guide on how to do so in GoldFynch.


After your production is successfully imported, you can review it using your eDiscovery platform.


Viewing load files independently

If you want to view the contents of the load file alone (and not necessarily directly view the files in the production), you can quickly and easily do so using a dedicated "load file viewer"