| At the heart of any legal undertaking is the mass of | | | | The challenges of dealing with digital media are many. |
| data that legal professionals need to perform their | | | | For one thing, there tends to be large volumes of such |
| jobs. The demanding job of acquiring and organizing | | | | data and each document may have many copies or |
| the documents that comprise this data is known as | | | | exist in several versions. Also electronic data is much |
| litigation support. It's a demanding task that requires a | | | | more volatile than hard copy. So it requires special |
| high level or organizational ability and a painstaking | | | | handling. What's more the data may be concealed or |
| attention to detail. And with these documents | | | | encrypted which demands special expertise. |
| increasingly in electronic form, litigation support | | | | Other than procedures such as the scanning, imaging, |
| professionals need even more skills and knowledge. | | | | and indexing of documents, litigation support firms also |
| The legal system runs on information. Any law suit or | | | | provide such sophisticated activities as electronic |
| court case involves a veritable sea of documentation | | | | discovery and computer forensics. These are |
| ranging from witness statements to affidavits to any | | | | essentially the same procedure - the retrieval of data |
| documents that can be applied as evidence. And the | | | | from computer systems for a specific purpose. The |
| legal system demands impeccable documentation with | | | | difference is just in the reason for the retrieval; |
| accuracy, security, integrity, speed and efficiency. The | | | | electronic discovery is for general purposes, while the |
| management of this rigorous process is known as | | | | term computer forensics is generally used when the |
| litigation support. | | | | retrieved information is for use in a law suit or in a |
| Litigation support can be defined as any operation | | | | court of law. |
| involving human and mechanical systems to process | | | | Forensic investigations could involve recovering hidden, |
| information for use by attorneys or expert consultants | | | | damaged or corrupted files. Or perhaps decrypting |
| in preparation for a lawsuit or a trial. And in these | | | | password-protected or encrypted files, as well as |
| high-tech times it's an especially demanding task. | | | | recovering emails, chat data and other forms of online |
| Nowadays, a major part of such documentation is | | | | communication. |
| likely to be in electronic form and stored on a | | | | The range of crimes that might require these services |
| computer system. The retrieval and authentication of | | | | is extremely wide ranging. Some examples are |
| such digital documents is a field in itself and one of vital | | | | copyright infringement, money laundering, blackmail or |
| importance in a successful legal undertaking. | | | | corruption. In fact any crime in which relevant |
| What's more, paper documents also have to be | | | | information is stored on a computer system. And in this |
| scanned and stored in digital format. This allows easy | | | | day and age that could mean virtually anything. |
| access to concerned parties. It's a process that | | | | The legal system depends on accurate and |
| demands impeccable organisation and supervision. | | | | documented information in order to function so it's |
| Documents have to be tagged and indexed and | | | | essential to have professionals take charge of this |
| stored in document management centers in a way | | | | task. More and more data is now in digital form, to it's |
| that they're instantly retrievable. | | | | essential for litigation support firms to be able to deal |
| Clearly people working in this field have to skilled in | | | | with this. And with data security becoming increasingly |
| both technology and law. And generally employees in | | | | important in this wired world, the field of computer |
| firm that offer litigation support services are qualified | | | | forensics is one that has to develop accordingly. |
| paralegals. | | | | |