Forensic Collection & ESI Processing

All trials are based on the evidence that is presented, of course before you can present the evidence you have to collect it. This can be a problem because it is not easy to find what you need. When you do find the evidence that you need it is important to make sure that it is collected properly. Otherwise you won't be able to use it in court, and then you will have a problem.

Forensic collection basically consists of collecting the evidence that will be used at trial. In most cases this will be paperwork. There is a specific way that forensic collection needs to be done. Obviously because you need to be able to find all of the relevant evidence but you also need to be able to collect it in a way that will ensure that it is admissible in court. If not the evidence won't do you any good. This is why many law firms hire a consultant to help them with this. There is a lot that they need to know in order to do the job properly.

One of the latest trends in forensic collection is the use of electronically stored information processing. This is basically getting all of the information that is stored on a computer so that it can be used for trial. Many companies will still hire a forensic collection expert to handle this for them. However a lot of them are starting to use software that will do the job for them. While this does work at finding the necessary information there are some real issues that do need to be addressed if you are going to use ESI processing.

The biggest problem with using software for ESI processing is that you will have to rely on untrained employees to collect the information. In most cases it will be the people who actually are the custodians of the documents who will be collecting the data. In almost all cases they will have no training in collecting forensic evidence or even any legal training. That can create some problems with admissibility of the evidence they collect. The software is supposed to make sure that this isn't a problem but it is hardly guaranteed.

This is why many law firms will bring in a forensic collection and ESI processing expert to oversee the collection of this evidence. He can advise the law firm on the best way to collect this. He can also help to train the people who have to actually collect the evidence on the proper way to do it. This will help to ensure that they do it correctly so that you will not have any problems with using the evidence in court. There is nothing worse than building your case around a specific piece of evidence only to find that you can't use it because it was collected improperly.