Definition

Electronic discovery, or e-discovery, refers to “discovery” as it is traditionally used in litigation and “electronic” as in digitally stored data, such as instant messages, e-mail, and any other files created and stored digitally that may be of relevance in a legal case. When used in terms of litigation, “discovery” refers to the proces by which both sides of the case attempt to uncover all relevant information about the suit by requesting documentation from the other side.

Business applications

In December of 2006, amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedures were passed to include processes and guidance for e-discovery. Basically, e-discovery includes any digitally created documents or information.

Any business could end up in litigation at any time. This is why it is important to have a good data management and document archiving system, and a good relationship between the IT department and the legal department. Once pertinent documents are requested, a company must be able to locate and retrieve the necessary files quickly and easily.

Concerns

A new concern in the area of e-discovery is that of virtualization. When a forensic examiner is searching a user’s hard drive for relevant data, files contained on virtual machines might not show up during the searches. If a  company is involved in litigation and they use virtualized systems, it is  important that they explain the type of virtualization to the attorney and any forensic investigators so that they can make sure that all pertinent documents are retrieved.

Technical details

One of the more important aspects of such digital data is its metadata, which is a part of each electronic file that shows when the file was created, who created it, if it has been modified, etc. Once a file is requested for a lawsuit, forensic investigators can search through its metadata to ensure that the file is original and has not been tampered with. This is why it is also important that the files are kept in their original file format, also called a “native” format.