Today, all document discovery is e-Discovery. Evidence in employment cases, contract disputes, personal injury suits, and divorce is customarily created and stored in electronic form. Chances are that your hardcopy evidence such as emails, financial data, office memo’s, or postings from social media came from a computer file and printed to use in a particular case. However, without the technology-assisted review, many relevant documents are missed by attorneys due to the enormous volume of data that the attorney would have to review, even in a relatively small case. Collection, review, identification, and production of electronic information provides a significant edge in assisting attorneys in making connections that they could otherwise miss in finding the most vital evidence, which would benefit their clients.
A few years ago attorneys who were the early adopters of e-Discovery started using various keyword searches such as Boolean as a way to setup the most relevant electronically stored information to be reviewed. Although this was a step in the right direction, the results were still too massive to be reviewed.
Today, the technology known as predictive coding has made the review of large data sets of electronically stored information possible. New keyword searches such as conceptual keyword and semantic search employ state-of-the-art algorithms that analyze and categorize electronic documents for review on issue, privilege, and relevancy.
Most lawyers are slow to make changes, especially when it comes to legal technology. The general perception that attorneys have is that computer forensics and e-Discovery is too pricey or not proportional to the value of their cases. This couldn’t be farther from the truth, and it is time to reconsider using computer forensics and e-Discovery in your practice. There are electronic discovery solutions available for every budget.
Technology use in our world has accelerated at such rapid speed that it has become a part of our everyday life. Texting on smart phones or posting updates on social media has added additional ways that we communicate and exchange information. Despite your particular field of legal practice, electronically stored information has become a part of every case.
According to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, the Duty of Competence (ABA 1.1) states that a lawyer has, “the responsibility to be reasonably informed about client use of technology.” Further Rule 1.1 states under comment 8 that, “to maintain the requisite knowledge and skill, a lawyer should keep abreast of changes in the law and its practice, including the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology.”
Electronic evidence is found everywhere. From social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, to text messages and cloud storage services. Can you afford to disregard these like sources of discoverable evidence that could help your clients in their case? It is your duty as an attorney to investigate all accessible electronically stored information.
Therefore, the reluctant, unaware or unprepared attorney will be at a legal, strategic and ethical disadvantage in not knowing how this technology can help their practice.