Managing and Identifying Evidence
In the past decade, legislation has been passed that requires employers to keep track of important documents and communications. In the event of impending litigation, the employer, or party to the court proceeding, is required to either produce any pertinent information themselves or to hire a company that specializes in e-discovery. Once this process has been completed, attorneys, IT professionals and investigators have to identify evidence that could be useful in any impending court proceedings.
Using E-Discovery Software to Collect Evidence
As stated before, employers are required to preserve certain documents and to retrieve any communications regarding a viable piece of information in the event of a subpoena or lawsuit. When an employer finds out that they need to use e-discovery software to retrieve company emails, instant messages and other electronic communication, they can either enlist the help of IT professionals or even the services of an e-discovery company. E-discovery companies are getting more and more popular as the evolving technology makes it even easier to retrieve lost documents.
Using E-Discovery Software to Analyze the Evidence
Once all documents have been retrieved from the computer in question, the time has come for investigators to go through all pertinent papers for the purpose of getting evidence that could provide the much needed ammunition for their case. One way this software helps investigators in this process is through examining the metadata of each document. Metadata is the encrypted information that is contained in each electronic file. This information contains needed clues such as the date and time that the file was created, as well as the program in which the file was created.
Even though investigators still search through boxes of yellowed documents, e-discovery software takes litigation into the 21st century. This software allows companies involved in legal proceedings to go about their business without a huge interruption in doing what they do best, a godsend to any company who just find out they’re about to be involved in a costly court case.