| At the heart of any legal undertaking is the | | | | documents is a field in itself one of vital |
| mass of data that legal professionals need to | | | | importance to a successful legal undertaking. |
| perform their jobs. The demanding task of | | | | |
| acquiring and organizing the documents that | | | | The range of services offered by litigation |
| comprise this data is known as litigation | | | | support firms range from clerical activities |
| support. It's a task that requires a high | | | | such as the scanning, imaging, and indexing |
| level or organizational ability and a | | | | of documents to sophisticated activities such |
| painstaking attention to detail. And with | | | | as electronic discovery and computer |
| these documents increasingly in electronic | | | | forensics. |
| form, litigation support professionals need | | | | |
| IT skills as well as legal and organisational | | | | Litigation support often uses the allied |
| expertise.> | | | | fields of electronic discovery and computer |
| | | | forensics. These are essentially the same |
| Computers have revolutionized virtually all | | | | thing |
| the professions. One area where IT has made a | | | | |
| particularly huge impact is in the legal | | | | - the retrieval of data from computer systems |
| field. | | | | for a specific puspose. |
| | | | |
| The legal system runs on information and | | | | The difference is just in the reason for the |
| especially demands impeccable documentation | | | | retrivel; electronic discovery is for general |
| with accuracy, security, integrity, speed and | | | | purposes while computer forensics is when the |
| efficiency that only computers can provide. | | | | retrieved information is for use in a law |
| Managing this documentation is a critcal and | | | | suit or in a court of law. |
| the specialized field of litigation support | | | | |
| services have emerged to handle this vital | | | | Electronic discovery or forensic |
| task. So what exactly do they do? | | | | investigations could involve recovering |
| | | | hidden, damaged or corrupted files. Or |
| Litigation Support is defined as any | | | | perhaps decrypting password-protected or |
| operation involving human and mechanical | | | | encrypted files, as well as recovering |
| systems to process information for use by | | | | emails, chat data and other forms of online |
| attorneys or expert consultants in | | | | communication. |
| preparation for a lawsuit or a trial. In | | | | |
| other words, a litigation support firm should | | | | Litigation support is a relatively new field |
| offer any service that provides the legal | | | | but it's evolving rapidly. The legal system |
| professional with the data he needs to carry | | | | depends on accurate and documented |
| out his assignment. | | | | information in order to function so it's |
| | | | essential to have professonals take charge of |
| And in this day and age a major part of such | | | | this task. And with data security becoming |
| documentation is likely to be in electronic | | | | increasingly important in this wired world, |
| form and stored on a computer system. The | | | | the field of computer forensics is one that |
| retrieval and authentication of such | | | | has to develop accordingly. |