Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%

Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.

Computer Forensics for Your Firm

By Christy Burke
March 27, 2007
The electronic-discovery phenomenon is here to stay ' and the industry is still exploding.

The percentage of electronically stored information ('ESI') evidence in the standard case has increased exponentially, and all signs on the Information Superhighway and on roads leading to court indicate that ESI in litigation will escalate as time goes by. Along with e-discovery, the field of computer forensics is becoming evermore central to the discovery process. The need for computer forensics analysis is appearing frequently at the state and federal level, and the field's influence and demands are permeating civil and criminal cases, both large and small.

Attorney and e-discovery expert Tom O'Connor, with the Washington, DC-based non-profit Legal Electronic Document Institute, says that judges in the cases
he consults on are ordering e-discovery and computer-forensics investigation much more frequently than ever before. O'Connor is seeing the effect of this change on all kinds of cases.

Read These Next
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later Image

The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.

The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs Image

The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.

Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations Image

This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.

Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough Image

There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.

Compliance Officers: Recent Regulatory Guidance and Enforcement Actions and Mitigating the Risk of Personal Liability Image

This article explores legal developments over the past year that may impact compliance officer personal liability.