Electronic Data Discovery

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Electronic Data Discovery

The modern-day means of conducting business has created an explosion of Electronically Stored Information (ESI). Reports indicate that as late as 2000, paper documents contained 70% of all discoverable information. Today, over 90% of corporate records exist in electronic format and estimates indicate that over 20 billion e-mails are sent each day and increasing by more than 30% annually.

The discovery of ESI raises particularly different concerns from traditional discovery of paper documents. The overwhelming amount of data to review has created a burden as well as a risk for law firms. Unlike Paper, computer information is unique in that simply turning a computer on or off can change the characteristic and information it stores.

To address this:
CDS has built a scalable platform using the most comprehensive industry certified software with a robust processing center, capable of handling several terabytes of information. We have the ability to process various mail stores and over 500 different electronic file types. Our EDD portfolio allows us the flexibility to deliver on the distinctive needs of every project; and our programmers can quickly develop custom solutions for a specific case.

CDS EDD full package includes the following services:

  • Technical Project Management
  • Media tracking report and Chain of Custody
  • Real Time Reporting
  • File type report (Custodian level or global)
  • Metadata extraction and Full-text extraction
  • De-duplication -Comparing MD5 Hash and SHA-1 Values/Customized email fields (Custodian level or global)
  • Indexing/Searching/Keyword filtering/Date and Custodian filtering
  • Native file review database with hyperlinks "TIFF-less volumes"
  • TIFF/PDF conversion w/ OCR on image based files
  • High-speed loading and processing using SQL Server database
  • Cross-reference files to track internal bates and production number

Our Complete EDD solution is comprised of five phases: Planning, Collecting, Processing, Review and Production

During the processing phase there are various options depending on the e-discovery specifications. The most common are:

  • Full Text Extraction
  • Metadata Extraction
  • Native File Review
  • TIFF or PDF Conversion

Data Collection Services:

CDS will ensure all data is collected in a defensible method and is presented for the next stage in processing. We will harvest the electronic documents using forensic techniques that preserve all available data for discovery requests.

De-Duplication Processing:

Using algorithms, de-duplication eliminates exact duplicates, providing a culled responsive set of data. Removing these while inserting a "duplicate tag" speeds up the document review process and helps reduce costs. Reports indicate up to 70% of e-mails and electronic documents can be duplicates.

Metadata Extraction:

"data about data". Metadata is becoming an increasingly important part of electronic discovery. CDS can extract this data and generate 70+ fields thus giving end users information about the characteristics of a document.

Full Text Extraction:

CDS can provide full-text extraction for documents locked as static images thus giving fully-searchable documents. The text is indexed, enabling end-users the ability to run detailed filtering to cull the data for review.

Data Filtering:

The purpose of data filtering is to assist the end-user in finding that one necessary piece of information. Filtering the data reduces the data set further and eliminates wasted time reviewing irrelevant documents. Filtering options include: custodian, file type, date, keyword (including customized and multi-language) and more.

Electronic File Conversion:

Electronic File Conversion occurs after pre-processing (de-duplication and filtering) and is now ready for exporting to your document management solution. This is the process of converting electronic files from their native format to TIFF (or any other format).

Fully Loaded Review Databases:

Our standard procedure is to deliver a fully loaded Concordance, Summation database. This prevents many of the "data loading" issues normally encountered when loading via a Concordance .DAT file or a Summation .DII file.

The use of computers has become the primary vehicle upon which business is conducted and thus changing the nature of discovery. As a result, discovery has become very reliant on the ability to collect, index, process and review electronic information. ESI is providing litigators and other legal professionals with an increasingly large body of evidence. Effective management of your electronic information is vital to any Firm's success. Your goal is to win and we'll help you do that. We are not just a vendor - we provide the highest level of technical support available and we strive to develop a true partnership.

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