Cover; Title Page; Copyright Page; Dedication; Contents; Author Biographies; Introduction; Chapter 1 -- Your Critical Task: Learn Another Language; A Computer forensics expert looks at legalese; The Civil Lawsuit-A Pretrial Tour, with Vocabulary; The Litigation Process, Word by Word; The real first step-the triggering event; ESI in the Rules, or How to Aggravate the Judge; Keeping it in Proportion, Round 1: Training; Keeping it in Proportion, Round 2: the Price of Compliance, or Not; Chapter 2 -- Preserving, Not Corrupting-Hold It!; How far does preservation stretch? information versus evidence The Hold Notice-A Brief IntroductionA historical footnote; In the Present, Spoliation Versus Integrity of Evidence; Bad Acts: Examples from Reported Cases; Destruction by Omission; Destruction by Commission; Experts (Or Not); In-house IT Employees; Outside IT "Consultants"; Outside IT Litigation Consultants; The Other Route-Destruction with Permission; Curative Action and Sanctions; The General Theory-Courts Must Maintain Their Integrity; The Balancing Act; The Hammer Falls; The Cell Door Slams, Occasionally; Each Attorney's Independent Preservation Duty The Key to the Hold Notice: Name the Key Players AsapMore Thoughts About "Keys" to an Effective Hold-The Wider View; Zubulake, Pension Committee, Rimkus and More; Zubulake (I-V); The 2006 Rules Amendments on ESI; Pension Committee; Meanwhile, in Texas: Rimkus; Chin v. Port Authority-A Clarification; The Rules-Contemplating Amendment, Again; And, back in the courtroom-Sekisui American; The Rules Amendment Process, Again-Looking Forward From Dec., 2015; Chapter 3 -- Incident Response While Avoiding Evidence Disaster: The Team; The Team: Functional and Procedural Issues Securing ESI Repositories: A Brief Consideration of the Dark (Criminal) SideWhen to Act in Criminal Incidents: When There is Suspicion of Misconduct; Internal Misconduct by an Individual or Group (Whether Criminal or Not); Other Criminal Misconduct, Fraud, etc., by an Individual or Group; When Something is Wrong and the Origin is Unknown: Log Access is Critical; When Immediate Action is Needed; When Criminal or Civil Litigation is Likely: Expanding the Team as Needed; When Litigation is in Progress; Who Needs to Act: Whoever Handles the Problem is on the Team; Information Technology Personnel Human Resources PersonnelFinancial Personnel; Other Management Personnel; The Lawyers; In-House Counsel Team-Lawyers Plus Paralegals; Litigation Counsel Team-Lawyers Plus Paralegals; The Digital Forensic Expert or Consultant; Other Expert Consultants and Expert Witnesses; Preparing the Team; Planning-Prepare the Team for Various Situations Before Anything Happens; Identifying Key Team Positions for Various Situations; Training Individuals for Team Positions (Including Their Support Staff); Pre-Crisis Forensic and Litigation Training-The Heart of a Successful Team.

The ability to preserve electronic evidence is critical to presenting a solid case for civil litigation, as well as in criminal and regulatory investigations. Preserving Electronic Evidence for Trial provides everyone connected with digital forensics investigation and litigation with a clear and practical hands-on guide to the best practices in preserving electronic evidence. Corporate management personnel (legal & IT) and outside counsel need reliable processes for the litigation hold - identifying, locating, and preserving electronic evidence. Preserving Electronic Evidence for Trial provides the road map, showing you how to organize the digital evidence team before the crisis, not in the middle of litigation. This practice handbook by an internationally known digital forensics expert and an experienced litigator focuses on what corporate and litigation counsel as well as IT managers and forensic consultants need to know to communicate effectively about electronic evidence. You will find tips on how all your team members can get up to speed on each other's areas of specialization before a crisis arises. The result is a plan to effectively identify and pre-train the critical electronic-evidence team members. You will be ready to lead the team to success when a triggering event indicates that litigation is likely, by knowing what to ask in coordinating effectively with litigation counsel and forensic consultants throughout the litigation progress. Your team can also be ready for action in various business strategies, such as merger evaluation and non-litigation conflict resolution.