The increasing relevance
of electronic evidence for those of us who practice in litigation, arbitration, regulation and investigation has been clear for a number of years.
Consequently
handling electronic evidence correctly and understanding the techniques available is becoming increasingly important for all parties.
In bringing you the latest in e-discovery legal developments in 2015, we've seen
electronic evidence discovery continue to become a ubiquitous part of everyday 21st Century life.
The use of experts in the preliminary stages of a case will likely assist later when
electronic evidence needs collecting, reviewing or producing in line with relevant laws.
It's safe to
say electronic evidence — text messages, digital photos, cloud storage, and the internet of things — will be involved in every new case you have.
The advantage of a special master is that a judge can give parties one last chance to fulfill their duty to preserve, collect and
produce electronic evidence before sanctions are imposed.
By introducing policies and involving experts before or at the onset of litigation, lawyers are helping themselves and their clients to ease the burden of
managing electronic evidence.
Your IT department should not try manage
electronic evidence during internal investigations if they don't have the experience - even when instructed by the legal department.
For most attorneys, the
term electronic evidence brings to mind the «usual suspects,» including emails, social media posts, backup tapes and documents stored on servers and laptops.
We offer a complete range of
electronic evidence capture and review tools that identify, preserve and collect relevant information and empower rapid analysis.
When unusual financial activity is suspected, we can investigate,
perform electronic evidence discovery, and review financial reports — all with the sensitivity and urgency required.
Some judges are skeptical about what process was used to acquire the texts and some states only
accept electronic evidence if it has been obtained by a professional such as a private investigator.
By having a specialist support team with the skills to deal with large amounts of
electronic evidence lawyers can maintain the integrity of the data and ensure that there are no nasty surprises.
The use
of electronic evidence has increased dramatically over the past few years, but many lawyers still struggle with the complexities of electronic discovery.
The article mentions this distinction as set out by Underwood and Penner in
Electronic Evidence in Canada, which has been taken up by some cases as well.
The Uniform
Electronic Evidence Act of 1998 used «electronic record» — in French it was «inscription électronique».
Prior to establishing Burney Consultants, Brett spent five years at the law firm of Thompson Hine LLP in Cleveland, Ohio, where he worked extensively with litigation teams in building electronic document databases, counseling on electronic discovery issues, and managing the technical responsibilities of
presenting electronic evidence at trial.
Firms are also increasingly beginning to use e-disclosure professionals who can «harvest»
electronic evidence by making a non-invasive mirror image through bit by bit and sector - by - sector copying of a memory device onto an external hard drive.
John is a frequent author (fifteen books published by the ABA and hundreds of articles) and speaker on legal technology, information security and
electronic evidence topics.
Sure, the suit wouldn't have happened if
Electronic Evidence Discovery (EED), the electronic discovery company had performed as it had represented.
A new iPad app, TrialPad, is specifically designed for use in the courtroom, as a tool to prepare and present
electronic evidence at trial.
In another recent case indicative of the power inherent to the Ringtail platform, Joseph Perkovich, who directs Dorsey's New York
based electronic evidence and discovery practice, gathered together more than 270,000 files from 44 e-mail custodians, had them loaded into Ringtail in their native format, and began an expansive document production in the span of a weekend.
We understand the unique challenges of
electronic evidence because we are trial lawyers, transactional lawyers and technologists with substantial experience in information governance and knowledge of supporting technologies who efficiently oversee the management and handling of electronically stored information in litigation, regulatory and internal investigations.
«
Electronic evidence retrieved during discovery, including emails, tweets, text messages and photos, as well as GPS and web browsing history, is often enough to make or break a case.»
For example, it is up to judges to determine whether digital evidence is reasonably accessible, or even to determine
what electronic evidence is — something not always clear when talking about spreadsheets, databases or other unstructured data.
Unfortunately, this means that some midsize law firms are making the classic mistake of believing they are using litigation graphics when they are simply
displaying electronic evidence and text PowerPoint slides via a projector in the courtroom.
Sharon is the author of the noted
electronic evidence blog, Ride the Lightning and is a co-host of the Legal Talk Network podcast series called «The Digital Edge: Lawyers and Technology» as well as «Digital Detectives.»
Under the plans, judges in one member state will be able to
seize electronic evidence held on a service provider in another European country through a transnational European production order.
eCapture is a fully automated
electronic evidence processing solution designed to perform electronic discovery, processing, and production tasks quickly and accurately.
When
collecting electronic evidence it is essential, therefore, that companies and their lawyers observe applicable employment, privacy and data protection laws, while also heeding court orders and considering the company's legal needs.