Preserving Electronic Evidence for Litigation is More Than Just
Not Deleting Documents, says K&F Consulting’s Greg Fordham
ALPHARETTA, Ga. --May 9, 2007-- A misstep in preserving electronic data for litigation could mean defeat before the enemy is even engaged.
That’s the conclusion observed by Greg Fordham, a founder of K&F Consulting Inc., and an expert witness in many state and federal cases involving e-discovery and computer forensics.
According to Fordham simply, "Just not deleting anything off the computer isn't enough."
"The continued use of a computer can alter important metadata such as file system date and time stamps. Similarly continued use can overwrite dynamic system data such as virtual memory stored to a disk, or overwrite deleted data so that it is unrecoverable," he said.
In a recent paper titled "Preservation: Don’t Lose Before You Begin," Fordham outlines steps litigators should take to preserve electronic data. The complete paper is available at www.knfcon.com/LIBRARY/PRIMERS/PreserveAndWin.pdf.
Steps Fordham recommends include: early notice to preserve evidence – even prior to filing; preserving electronic evidence in a forensically sound manner that will capture the full spectrum of data; and developing a questionnaire or guide that seeks specific details about a clients electronic and computer systems.
K& F Consulting offers a model client interview questionnaire and preservation notice that is available for downloading from the firm’s web site. Both are available at nocharge. The preservation notice may be found at www.knfcon.com/utilities/model-preservation-notice.pdf. The client interview questionnaire is available at www.knfcon.com/utilities/e-interview.pdf.
About K&F Consulting
K&F Consulting services a nationwide clientele. The firm provides a variety of e-discovery and computer forensic services including database forensics, software forensics as well as the more well known forms of computer forensics. The company’s web address is www.knfcon.com.
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