Today's legal environment is very complex. Attorneys are faced with a myriad of challenges to effectively and efficiently support the digital demands associated with a growing number of cases. Many of these challenges are created by the rapidly advancing technologies in both the corporate and social spheres. Download Free Trial - http://bit.ly/vrIxKv Get a Quick Quote - http://bit.ly/tw8pi3 Contact Us Now - http://bit.ly/sz9x5r

1. tently manipulated. Challenges to data
E-Discovery Technology authenticity can jeopardize the outcome of the
litigation matter.
If a professional service is needed,
choose a company that has proven litiga-
Challenges and Solutions tion support experience and that has per-
sonnel whose experience and training can
be verified. In many cases, those experts
working on the case can be called upon by
By Ronald M. Godfrey, Computer Forensic Examiner, ITForensics.com the court to submit declarations detailing
activities, and in some cases are required to
provide oral testimony.
Whether e-discovery is being done in-
house or by a third party, having a wide
T oday’s legal environment is very complex.
Attorneys are faced with myriad challenges to
the specific triggers identified as the cause of
the death. If an individual died as a result of
breadth of technical experience is key as
the e-discovery process unfolds. Having
effectively and efficiently support the digital taking a certain medication, the attorney the ability and tools available to collect
demands associated with a growing number of might want to target the pharmaceutical com- data from cell/smart phones, hard drives
cases. Many of these challenges are created by pany’s servers and systems that contain com- and servers, SharePoint websites, email
the rapidly advancing technologies in both the munications or analysis relating to tests docu- servers and local systems is critical.
corporate and social spheres. When the focus menting the drug’s side effects. The last question to ask is what kinds of
is electronic discovery, the technologies that Once the appropriate areas and nature of software should be employed for doing e-
create these challenges have advanced faster targeted data have been recognized, the next discovery. There are many factors to con-
than the technology used to identify, collect and question is how to process the information in sider including: type of data that needs to
produce data. This creates stress, delays and those relevant data stores. A good idea is to be searched, locations and types of data
expense for all parties involved. However, team with an information technology special- stores, budgetary limitations, resources
these stresses can be minimized by doing some ist, either in-house or through a third party. available, the amount of data to be
simple pre-discovery planning. Considering processed and the time constraints.
questions like the ones below can narrow the
initial e-discovery scope and increase the
prospect of obtaining relevant data from the “Electronic data is Taking Action
onset of a case. There are many tools on the markets and
each should be considered based on the
unique characters of your case. One of the
What You Should Know no longer contained tools used by ITForensics is Sherpa
The first question to ask when drafting an Software’s Discovery Attender. This software
e-discovery request is “where is the relevant is designed to assist the attorney or paralegal
data most likely to be stored for this case?”
Electronic data is no longer contained in a
in a centralized local in the management of data and information
during the e-discovery collection process. DA
centralized local environment. It is mobile and is capable of searching mailboxes located on
global! Important information can be found the server, personal folders files (.PSTs) and
on local machines, networked servers, smart environment. It is networked file shares or servers. Search
phones or even be hosted on the Internet. The results can be de-duplicated, thus reducing the
increased use of cloud computing adds even amount of data required to be reviewed and
further complexity to the process because
users can potentially access and manipulate
mobile and global!” stored. Other popular software tools include
LAW, used for processing ESI data;
data via any Internet-connected device. Concordance, commonly used for reviewing;
Identifying these data stores will help Their expertise can be harnessed to effective- and the Clearwell E-Discovery Platform, a
determine what type of process and tech- ly outline how to best access the relevant elec- well-known tool for its early case assessment
nology can be used to obtain the data. This, tronically stored information. The specialist features.
in turn, keeps the expenses and requests can also advise the attorney on the complexi- E-discovery can be a stressful and com-
reasonable without creating an undue bur- ties in searching for the data and provide rec- plicated process. Allocate time at the onset
den to the responsive party. ommendations how to best extract the data. of the litigation case to identify relevant
Another question to keep in mind is the Having an idea of what type of data is relevant data sources, data types, and who will col-
nature of the litigation and types of custodians to the case, and where to look for the data is lect the data in a professional manner. This
involved. This determines what kind of data crucial to a successful litigation proceeding. will reduce costs, improve efficiency and
could be responsive and where it is likely to From this perspective, it is important to benefit the litigation proceedings. Asking
reside. For example, responsive data for a ask “do we have the expertise, resources the right questions and utilizing the right
wrongful termination suit might reside in the and tools to search and extract the data? Or, technology and resources can further
email accounts of specific human resources do we need a professional service?” streamline the process and reduce stress
employees who were involved in the termina- Probably one of the most important along with time and expense. T
tion process. Documents relative to the spe- aspects of collecting electronic evidence is
cific justification for the termination might Ron Godfrey is a digital forensics examiner at IT
validating authenticity. The data must be col- Forensics, Inc. He teaches digital forensics at Highline
reside on a specific HR file share. lected in a manner that retains its original
Another example could be a wrongful Community College in Des Moines, WA, and has worked
form. This makes having the right expertise for a Fortune 100 company’s IT security department.
death case. It would be important to identify important because inexperienced personnel Godfrey has a total of 12 years in IT and IT security in the
data stores containing information related to can increase the risk that data will be inadver- corporate environment.
KMWorld February 2012 S11