Orlando E-Discovery Guidelines

Computer forensics experts and courts of law have recommended that best practices be developed to assist in the discovery of electronic documents. The whole process of retrieval, preservation, and exchange along with production of documents from various electronic sources is what forms the wide field of electronic discovery. It is very important to note at this point that all documents from hard copy sources even though produced with electronic form and the paper electronic documents which have been printed don’t form e-discovery guidelines.

The prime objective of Orlando e-discovery guidelines is to plainly educate legal practitioners, business organizations and other interested parties on the significant issues which need to be addressed in order to record the highest credibility when it comes to the process of electronic discovery. The guidelines cover the obligations for the preservation and production of relevant evidence and how to improve effectiveness in the line of electronic discovery. The guidelines suggest how the concerned parties can reach early agreements—which avoid the high cost and delay that come with the electronic discovery process.

The basic processes in the e-discovery process include:
• Location of the potential sources of documents
• Preservation of all the relevant materials for the process
• Document review to check for relevance, admissibility and other significant issues
• Production of organized evidence for the concerned parties, court proceedings and any other uses

By understanding new concepts and terminology that play in every stage of electronic discovery, lawyers can make informed decisions thus avoiding potential disputes. This happens when details are prepared in line with the rules of electronic discovery. Production of documents and any other item required should be done so in a manner that suits the requirements of all parties. We shall look at e-discovery guidelines covering the following areas:

1. Location of electronic documents
It is important to know where electronic documents are located and the existing rules that govern these documents. Documents only meet the term “electronic” if and only if they exist in a medium which can only be read with the help of a computer. This includes emails, webpages, databases and word processing files stored in a PC. In other cases, case law may extend the definition of electronically stored documents in the manner to which they are relevant to the requirements of the case.

The next important question which most professionals around the e-discovery process is the nature and type of computer systems which the client has. A client may have personal computers (hand-held devices, laptops and desktops), enterprise systems and networks, individual components and related media including magnetic media (floppy disks or computer hard drives), magnetic tapes, memory chips and optical disks (CDs or DVDs).

There is a variety of media and other hardware components involved which can sometimes cause a load of problems for clients, lawyers and courts. For instance:

• A few items could have been used by individual witnesses, different departments or stored in a seamless variety of electronic formats
• Some copies of a document could be stored in numerous locations such as emails sent from one person to the other or from one networked system to the other could be saved by the recipient and the sender. Further copies could also be retained by a particular system for a myriad of purposes.
• Electronic documents which were once deemed relevant may be rendered unreadable with time because of obsolescence of total unavailability of the key hardware and software components.
• The volume of data involved in some cases can be quite gigantic as a result of the increasing use of computers and storage capacity.

To ensure completeness of the searches, the lawyers are required to know the different sources of various documents that could exist in the computer systems of an organization. Therefore, a complete search should be undertaken to uncover active data, archived data and backup data from various sources.

A clear understanding of various terms should be noted in order to reduce time and costs wasted in proceeding with a case in the wrong direction. These include metadata, residual data and replicant data.

2. Preservation of electronically stored documents (ESD)
As is the case with paper documents, the duty of a person is to preserve electronically stored documents (ESDs) which are very relevant when threatened or contemplated litigation arises. But the terminology and discussion reviewed highlights some of the special problems which arise from preservation of many electronic documents. It also suggests the manner in which they can be addressed. Outlined below are some examples of practical issues which arise when there is lack of proper understanding and the solutions available to such issues:

• Electronic documents or media containing such information could go obsolete with respect to the reigning business systems but they can be recovered to a rather readable form with the help of specialized forensic methods. The overall cost involved has significantly reduced to the extent that some people consider it cost effective even when the range of litigation is increasing.
• Some relevant metadata could exist when an electronic source or document is located. However, it could be lost or altered in the very process of trying to make a copy of all the relevant documents or files for purposes of litigation. But this is avoidable because there are some more affordable techniques which can be used to make mirror images aimed at preserving metadata integrity.
• Instead of simply printing website content at different points in time, preserving them in an electronic format is much better because it will enable an individual to recreate it in a courtroom with a view to demonstrating the relevant relationships, skills and other special features.
• The formalized policies for retaining documents are considered a recent development which is currently applied mostly by conglomerates and sophisticated organizations. It can also be argued that there are some sound business reasons which can be cited for destruction of any relevant documents. These may include the routine deletion of old emails in order to maintain the available storage space for other uses. For these and any other reasons, it is important for the forensics examiners to hold discussions with the IT staff in order to prevent the continued deletion of such data if it will threaten litigation.

3. Electronic document review
Electronic document review is quite essential for the purpose of separating relevant materials which may be produced from sources of irrelevant material—which should not be the case. If irrelevant electronic documents are overproduced then the clients’ interests and the whole litigation process would be damaged. However, some characteristics of electronic documents and their volumes could form a barrier to an effective review process for several reasons including:

• A number of businesses normally save at least a copy of the entire system to backup tapes periodically. Some retain them for a very long time. These backup tapes can be used to store a lot of data that can be organized for the purpose of disaster recovery. It should be converted to a form which is easily readable before printing out. The cost of organizing and converting such data can be quite a significant barrier to production of backup tapes.
• The resultant set of documents could be incomplete depending on the retention policies that have been put in place by the institution could be incomplete as a far as relevance for litigation purposes is concerned.
• The set of documents could also contain several duplicates. Copies of a similar document could also be stored in several locations as operations are ongoing. The user may also delete their copy without their knowledge (human error).
• Earlier versions could also be retained. However, it is difficult to know the relevant version unless the required metadata has been preserved or have been clearly marked.
• An organization may require that data should be reviewed separately before production of documents where the information required is sensitive or secretive.

4. Producing documents in electronic format
There has been a burning issue in the courts of law as to whether evidence should be printed out or provided to the concerned parties in its original electronic format. It is not easy to say yes or no because the answer here reveals several competing operations.

Before maximizing the benefits derived as a result of electronic discovery practices, all the professionals require a lot of experience with issues such as the circumstances when electronic production is essential as opposed to production of paper documents and how to fairly allocate the total cost incurred in production of the same. Another issue is to ensure that the electronically produced information and documents are compatible with the technology of the courtroom thus facilitating a smooth trial. The guidelines also focus on how best the firms can work hard to ensure that there is appropriate retention of all relevant electronic records.

There are many other Orlando e-discovery guidelines being applied to ensure that clients access the best of computer forensics services to bring criminals to book and increase sanity in this fast emergent profession.

For more information please click here!