In-house and outside personnel are increasingly on the lookout for software tools they can use themselves to work with electronic discovery. A plethora of tools is available today, ranging from software solutions intended to be used only by properly trained computer forensics specialists to ones any of us can load on our machines and begin working with after only minimal instruction. This article focuses on two packages that fall squarely within the first group: EnCase Forensic Edition, and the Ultimate Toolkit. According to Jeremy Wunsch, Director of Data Forensics at Lucidata, LLC, and president of the Minnesota Chapter of the Information Systems Forensic Association, these are the two leading computer forensics products for the private sector.

The rules for submitting documents to U.S. State and Federal Courts is changing at a rapid pace by requiring attorneys to submit documents in PDF format. PDF, the acronym for Portable Document Format, has become the standard for accessing and submitting documents electronically regardless of the program used to create the document originally. The federal judicial system is now in the process of replacing the court's aging docketing and case management systems in favor of its nationwide Case Management/ Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) systems. The new system not only provides access to court documents in PDF, but allows attorneys to file documents over the Internet.

Features

In the first part of this article, published last month, we set the stage for looking at money issues in couples not just as examples of issues for tension or disagreement, but as our clearest and most concrete way of looking at the power imbalance in a couple. These themes of power and entitlement become more exaggerated, relevant and urgent when the couple is divorcing.

In President Bush's January 20th State of the Union Address, he spoke of a need to halt the movement toward allowing same-sex couples to marry. If activist judges insist on changing the traditional characterization of marriage as a union between a man and a woman, he said, a change to the U.S. Constitution will be needed to preserve the "sanctity" of the institution of marriage. Judges have "begun redefining marriage by court order, without regard for the will of the people or their elected representatives," he stated, apparently alluding to the November 2003 ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court holding that it is contrary to that state's constitution for gay couples to be denied the right to marry.

Recent rulings of importance to you and your practice.

The primary purpose of a tax return is for government entities to assess income taxes on the earnings of a business or individual, but in divorce, the role of the tax return is much broader and serves various purposes. Business and personal tax returns should be thoroughly analyzed before marital assets are divided and before income is set for the purpose of determining spousal maintenance and child support. If analyzed properly and creatively, they can help show whether: 1) there was financial irresponsibility; 2) income is much greater than appears on the surface; or 3) assets no longer exist that one spouse assumes still do exist.

Recent cases of importance to you and your practice.

An audit by Wal-Mart of 128 stores and over 25,000 employees has reportedly revealed thousands of labor violations at the Arkansas-based retailing chain, including 1371 violations of child labor laws, 60,000 missed breaks and16,000 skipped meal times, primarily in violation of state labor laws. The July, 2000 internal audit was apparently distributed to high-level company executives but has now come to public attention through lawsuits filed against the company, which employs more than 1.2 million U.S. workers.