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Electronic discovery

Electronic discoveryYou’ve just been served notice of legal proceedings or regulatory investigation. Considering the volume of data and the technology required to retrieve it, the risk involved and the invariably tight deadlines, electronic discovery can be daunting. Failure to disclose relevant documents on time is not an option.

Many of the potentially relevant documents in your organisation will be stored electronically, including emails and Word and Excel documents. The electronic records might be saved anywhere from laptops, hosted servers, Blackberry’s to back-up tapes.

Data volumes are often immense. There is nothing more frustrating (or expensive) than reviewing the same document multiple times, so it is critical duplicate documents are culled. Another key issue is the increased focus of litigators and regulators on metadata (dates and other information about the documents). It is vital that metadata is captured and reviewable. In some cases, there will be a variety of parties, often located in different geographic areas that need access to the information at the same time – so having a web-based discovery review platform will be critical.

Proven track record and methodology


You need a trusted Electronic Discovery partner with proven expertise, methodology and infrastructure you can rely on to accurately collect and process your electronic documents and meet your deadline.

You need your team of lawyers to start the review process as soon as possible. That’s why we have invested in considerable infrastructure and software which processes large volumes of data in the shortest amount of time. We value the security of your data, so we don’t process your sensitive electronic records on Cloud or hosted servers. Instead we use our own secure systems with access limited only to a trusted few.

We can help you:
  • Identify relevant records for discovery purposes;
  • Capture the records in a forensically sound manner. We use proven methodologies for collecting records and our experts have considerable experience in giving evidence in Court. This means you can rely on us to satisfy the Court should questions arise over the collection process;
  • Process the records, removing duplicate and known system files. We can also process back-up tapes in a cost effective fashion;
  • Load the data into your litigation review tool (e.g. Summation, Ringtail) or we can host the documents in AFTNet, our web based service;
  • Become “discovery ready”. By working with you and your IT team before litigation strikes, we can ensure that your organisation is well placed for when litigation arises, reducing cost and stress for you.

Dig deeper

  • Legal Discovery of Electronic data
    Forensic Focus - November 2011
  • ExternalURL E-Discovery Readiness Checklist
    Download our E-Discovery Readiness Checklist, containing items to consider in the areas of information management, identification, and preservation/collection, all aimed at reducing risk.
  • Backup! Backup! Backup!
    Forensic Focus - January 2011
  • The forgotten source of evidence - don't overlook your backup tapes.
    Forensic Focus – July 2010
  • Metadata - What is it and how is it important?
    Forensic Focus – December 2009
  • Advanced Forensic Technology - the next generation of computer forensics
    Forensic Focus – June 2009
  • Password recovery
    Forensic Focus – September 2008

Stay informed

  • ExternalURL E-discovery Report: Mitigating Risk Through Better Communication
    Our survey findings suggest five areas for companies to consider for potential improvement in e-discovery management.
  • ExternalURL Social Media a Nightmare for e-Discovery
    Article from ZDNet Australia

Talk to the team

  • ExternalURL Barry Foster
    Associate Director – Auckland
  • ExternalURL Jon Pearse
    Manager - Auckland