De-centralization of electronic discovery Eric W. Landry
American Public University
Dr. Deborah Moerland
August 2, 2014 Abstract
In 1995 and 1996 the judicial systems around the world realized that there was a problem with computer-based discovery and enacted civil procedures and guidance to assist legal entities. Summarizing Michael Curran, Esq. (2011) even with these civil procedures, guidance and laws in place, there are still several challenges in the legal systems when it comes to discovery of Electronically Stored Information when dealing with international e-discovery (Curran, 2011). This information may be protected under different data protection laws that can inhibit the e-discovery process during litigation, civil, and
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RESEARCH QUESTIONS 5
IV. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 5
V. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 5
VI. LIMITATIONS 6
II LITERATURE REVIEW 6
I. INTRODUCTION 6
II. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 6
III. LAW AND REGULATION ANALYSIS 7
I. SUMMARY 9
II. E-DISCOVERY TOOL ANALYSIS 10
III. SUMMARY 10
IV. CONCLUSION 10
III METHODOLOGY 11
IV SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 11
I. SUMMARY OF RESEARCH AND RESULTS 11
II. CONCLUSION 11
III. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NEW RESEARCH 11
I Introduction
The de-centralization of electronic discovery (e-discovery) rules (laws) brings challenges when searching for evidence in Electronically Stored Information (ESI), both nationally and internationally. If a litigation case covers more than one jurisdiction a lawyer will need to be hired that knows each particular jurisdiction. The reason that a lawyer familiar with that particular United States (US) district court, from herein referred to as districts; will need to be hired, is due to the differences in the local rules throughout the districts. To summarize David Canfield (2012), several states have adopted new civil procedures since the 2006 Amendments that may be incorporated in the Federal rules for future amendments (Canfield, 2012, p.p. 1-2). “District judges play an active role in tailoring e-discovery needs to individual cases” (Allman, T., 2013) and the local adoption of federal rules cause inconsistent rules throughout the country is the cause of these differences” (Allman, T., 2013). Regulations that
From a forensics perspective, an investigator could search for the person that submitted the documents. Lawyers and paralegals should be well versed in confidentiality and privacy. Many lawyers are cautious when using software that provide metadata. Thus, looking at emails and word processing information,
Telephone is a telecommunications device used to communicate between two or more people in any distance. Primarily telephones were used only for communication purposes but today telephones are as powerful and useful as computers are. With the evolution of phones, many things have changed which includes phone records. In past, phone records involved only phone numbers but today there is so many data and information on phones. These records include phone numbers, bank information, personal pictures and videos, location and text messages. These records are often used by law enforcers to investigate crimes by gathering information from phone records. Since 1970 many things has changed. This paper examines the technological differences between phone records in the 1970 and smartphones, privacy and how courts affect the technology.
*The concept of supplemental Jurisdiction grows in complexity once we recognize that the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure contemplate lawsuits in which the party structure is more complex than the “A v. B” lawsuit.
• Increase electronic access and viewing of public court records, implement electronic filing of civil and criminal cases, and protect confidential data. Furthermore, the implementation of a restraining order database will improve efficiency and accuracy in identifying violations. Additionally, electronic dispensing of information in various key languages will assist in educating non-English speakers’ awareness of the American judicial system.
Whether for personal, business or out of curiosity, the investigator is privy to locate information the individual may not be willing to share. The benefit of locating intimate data of a person through technology may sound marvelous, it can be complicated. In this era of innovation towards technology, one may find that information sought through certain technologies such as a database and the World Wide Web may not be current or adequate to their needs. Such reasoning’s as developed software may disable an investigator from collection specific data that satisfies their needs, as well as the epidemic of identity theft that will lead an investigator to false information of a person.
It is critical that evidence is collected in the correct manor to ensure that evidence is not destroyed. The investigator who is collecting the evidence should be properly trained in collection of evidence (Cosic, 2011). One example of proper protocol would be if a computer or cell phone is turned on when found, then it should not be turned off to prevent possible destruction of evidence or prompting for a password for access. The collection process can sometimes prove to be the most difficult because it evidence can easily be compromised or even destroyed (Manes,
What potential sources of digital evidence do you find at a crime scene? First of all, what is digital evidence? Digital evidence is any information or data of value to an investigation that is stored on, received by, or transmitted by an electronic device. Also, Digital evidence or electronic evidence is any probative information stored or transmitted in digital form that a party to a court case may use at trial. Text messages, emails, pictures and videos, and internet searches are some of the most common types of digital evidence. Most criminals now leave a digital trail;
Instead of seeing the overall picture, Martin was under the impression that tracing his actions will be impossible. Admittedly, digital footprint is one of the cyber forensics close kept secret, which allow investigators to analyze data and trace actions performed while using any information systems in the military networks. In other words, even when Martin walked out from his workplace by hand carrying classified documents, cyber forensics can pin-point to the computer used to access specific website including date and time stamp. As a result, evidence collected on the digital media progressively documented and verified as part of groundwork prior to legal proceedings. Due to enhanced and efficient technologies developed nowadays, criminals in the digital world will face the law sooner than what they would expect
Discovery is presented so there would be no surprises. All relevant facts and document must be summated to the defendant before it goes to trial. There are three layers to discovery, written discovery, document production and deposition. Written discovery are question and answer that is being ask, it could be now in the present or it could be question about the past that happen years ago. Document production anything that is related to the case such as medical records, defect case and or computer file. Deposition is a sworn statement that can range form week to month, and years back.
“The cost-, resource-, and time-effectiveness of litigation in each forum” -- The Division has expressed its preference for the most “efficient and effective” forum due to its limited resources. In general, the Division finds that administrative hearings are more effective than federal court actions when speed is an issue. Efficiency is also an important consideration, so actions that involve multiple defendants that can be handled in a single proceeding in a federal court may be preferable. In addition, the Division notes that the limitations on or availability of discovery may dictate the appropriate
The government argued that the warrantless ex parte seizure of 27,000 private e-mails was not a violation of the Fourth Amendments prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures. The government argued that the e-mails gathered from Warshak did, in fact, violate the fourth Amendment but the government relied on good faith on the Stored Communications Act (“SCA”) (Craig, 2013). The Stored Communications Act permits a government entity to compel a service provider
In April 2011, GAO, Government Accountability Office, reported that backlogs in the forensic analysis of digital evidence can delay or hinder online child pornography investigations. Among factors that federal law enforcement officials cited as limiting investigations and prosecutions were variations in the steps that agencies believe enhance the integrity of forensic analysis of digital evidence. In some cases, these steps may increase the time it takes to analyze evidence and add to backlogs and delays. (GAO High Risk & Other Major Government Challenges Balancing Fighting Crime Versus Terrorism)
Technology has changed the way we live our lives in pretty much every way imaginable. In the past, the common belief was that only manual work would be greatly affected by the rise of technology. However, service professions such as the legal profession have certainly seen a change as well. There are discussions what this will mean in the future and whether it will go beyond the current aiding role. If that is so, it could potentially change the current legal framework and question the role of lawyers themselves. There are also issues in relation to the protection of clients through data protection, confidentiality and accountability to look out for. This essay will focus on four main points. Firstly, it will discuss the overall impact of technology on the legal profession, while discussing the potential and feared threat of this. Secondly, exploring the lawyer’s responsibility to offer quality and proper service while relating this to accountability of technology. Thirdly, it will discuss issues relating to confidentiality and the overall role of the lawyer to ensure confidentiality is kept a priority while balancing out the cost reducing and more efficient technologies. Lastly, it will discuss the educational position in relation to technology and the changes that need to happen to prepare future lawyers for their careers.
The idea of law and order in this country isn’t a new one and, in fact, has taken a very long time to get to the point it is today. But it isn’t done changing or improving because with every new advancement and technology law must adapt to encompass these new gray areas and make them clear in the court of law. An example of a few large milestones in United States’ law that reflect such adaptability are the Federal Rules of Evidence; Federal Rules for Civil Procedure; and the Sedona Conference. Each of these milestones have made clear many issues and gray areas in the law. Issues in evidence collection and presenting as well as digital evidence collection are a few of the many subjects covered in these federal rules.
It is no secret that technology has changed the way that many things are done in our culture today. The legal world is no exception. When lawyers work on cases, there is usually a lot of reading involved. This takes a lot of time and a team of lawyers that is expensive to employ. Electronic Discovery (e-discovery) is technology that has cut down on this time and cost, and has significantly changed the legal world. It is software that can analyze documents and extract key words or phrases. In a case concerning CBS, lawyers and paralegals examined 6 million documents at a cost of $2.2 million. With the use of e-discovery, one company was able to examine 1.5 million documents for $100,000. E-discovery can help lawyers pick out words, phrases and it can even detect patterns in behaviors. This software is essential for the legal world because it could prove guiltiness through uncovering hidden activity of criminals who may otherwise not have been caught.