Electronic Discovery Services

Paper print outs provided in discovery don't always tell the whole story. In fact many transactions that take place today do so without any paper generation at all. The preservation, examination, proper chain of custody handling and reporting of evidence created by computers and those who use them will become the single most definitive issue in litigation support since the introduction of photographic evidence.

Our non-invasive search procedures utilizing the most advanced computer forensic tools allow us to conduct a proper search and analysis of any computer system while ensuring that the integrity and authenticity of relevant evidence is preserved with a concise and documented chain of custody.

Southwest Stars can also provide the following assistance to better serve clients in their ongoing forensic cases:

Data Conversion: We can convert relevant data files into other formats to address compatibility concerns that might arise during trial presentation, while preserving the original data.

Multiple Copies: We can provide an agreed upon number of copies of the examined data as well as our reports to be provided during disclosure proceedings

Drive Sanitation: We have the ability to clear storage and backup media to completely and safely remove data for security purposes.

Wondering about the veracity of opposing counsel's evidence?

Computer Forensics can evaluate whether electronic evidence has been manufactured, tampered with, or falsified. Should your case go to trial, our senior staff are available to testify as expert witnesses.

Recover deleted, re-formatted and encrypted data by a former employee and provide evidence of the deletion.

A discovery request seeking six years of data created on obsolete hardware, using two different operating systems, encrypted documents and a financial package that your client no longer runs.

A request for all email and electronic communication and correspondence, including those claimed to be deleted, relating to the information, marketing and sale of a particular product to prove theft of electronic intellectual property.

A request for a catalog of 5 years of encrypted backup tapes, with information pertaining to any changed or deleted financial documentation of a company.

We analyze the actual contents of data storage and backup media with an eye toward locating evidence - establishing activities that may have taken place. There are two formats which would be examined:

Computer Generated Data
Evidence created by operating systems,
temporary files
autosaves
software
applications
caching.

User Generated Data
Evidence created by a user, such as letters
e-mails
database entries
spreadsheet entries, and more.