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Preservation Strategies and Data Collection from a Forensic Expert’s Point of View

Best practices on executing preservation and collection protocols with emphasis on forensically sound methods. Time is of the essence once the duty to preserve electronically stored information (ESI) arises. Failure to preserve can lead to loss of evidence, increased costs, and even sanctions. Unfortunately, lack of technical expertise and improper planning can have disastrous consequences, including spoliation claims. This webinar, led by computer forensics expert Matt Danner, will provide you with the steps you should immediately execute upon receiving a preservation request as well as best practices formulating an effective preservation and collection plan. Mr. Danner will offer insight on uncovering data blind spots as well as collecting ESI using forensically sound methods.

Key Points

  • Common Practices and Terminology
  • Evidence Preservation Triggers
  • Forensic & Other Collection Methodologies
  • Planning and Executing Collection Plans
  • Handling Phones and Devices
  • When to Stop and Call an Expert
  • Case Examples
  • Practical Takeaways
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Understanding your eDiscovery Index and how it finds (or misses) evidence

How your eDiscovery platform parses and organizes your electronically stored evidence can be the difference between finding or missing that smoking gun. Or worse, unwittingly handing a smoking gun to opposing counsel. Pulling back the curtain on how an eDiscovery platform ingests electronically stored documents and makes the text within documents searchable reveals hidden places where evidence may be hiding. This article explains indexing and breaks down the types of search indexes used in eDiscovery software platforms, discusses the pros and cons of each, and offers solutions to ensure that you never miss crucial evidence.

Indexing occurs during the upload of your documents to your eDiscovery review platform. A number of processes run which separates and organizes your data. The text, in particular, is extracted from your documents and filtered into a database or index. When you enter a search query your software does not review each document searching for the word; that could take hours or days. Rather your software refers to the index (just as you would in a textbook) in order to quickly pull the relevant documents for your review. The process by which the text is extracted from your documents to be placed into that index is critical to the quality of search results.

There are 2 basic indexes used in eDiscovery software platforms, an OCR Index or a Text-based (also called Native extraction) Index.

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Exploring FRCP Rule 37(e) and Avoiding Spoliation Sanctions

In a recent eDiscovery webinar, Avoiding Spoliation Sanctions in 2017 Under New FRCP Amendments, the Honorable Xavier Rodriguez spoke with Lexbe CEO, Gene Albert regarding the intricacies of Rule 37(e). Judge Rodriguez offered insight into how courts are interpreting Rule 37(e), and how the amendment has changed the landscape for attorneys with regard to data loss and sanctions.

Prior to the FRCP’s 2015 amendments to Rule 37(e) courts were inconsistent in how they imposed sanctions due to lost data. As a result, many attorneys, fearing consequences, opted for a “save it all” approach when a preservation letter landed in their laps. With the growth of data and the high cost of storage, the “save it all” approach became prohibitively expensive.

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Litigation Finance: Best Practices and Emerging opportunities

Legal finance plays an increasingly common role in high-stakes commercial litigation. No longer merely a tool of necessity for cash-strapped claimants, financing is used by sophisticated lawyers and their clients as a more efficient way to manage the cost and risk of both plaintiff and defense matters while also unlocking working capital for the firm or business.

This presentation draws on Burford Capital’s experience as the world’s largest provider of commercial litigation finance and its work with nearly 75% of the AmLaw 100, and provides a broad overview of key concepts as well as emerging trends and opportunities for firms and clients to leverage legal finance in ways that enhance success and fuel growth.

Key Points

  • Defining litigation finance
  • What’s driving the growth of litigation finance?
  • Benefits of litigation finance
  • How it works
  • Case studies and trends
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Protecting eDiscovery Privilege, the Case Against File Sharing Sites

File sharing services, such as DropBox, have become increasingly used as eDiscovery repositories for incoming data and outgoing productions. With easy sharing, via a simple URL link, it’s understandable why these tools appear to offer an optimal solution for sending and receiving massive amounts of data as one does with eDiscovery litigation. Unfortunately, this “solution” can become a massive liability and we caution clients against using these services because it is simply too easy to accidentally share privileged documents. In fact, there are several cases in which information has been inadvertently shared and the results were disastrous for the offending party.

What’s the problem?

It is not that it can’t be done correctly, it is more that one is asking for problems with an open platform like this. With default settings in place, the “owner” of a file relinquishes control of the data within the file when shared with other users. Once shared, the data within the file can be copied, changed and shared without the owner’s permission. New users can be added to the file to view the data and, with seemingly unlimited “cooks in the kitchen,” it is too difficult to maintain chain of custody and ensure responsible sharing. A few specific issues with file sharing services include:

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