In This Topic
Profiling small cases
► Hunting and gathering e-evidence
► Keeping a lid on costs
► Looking at e-evidence in small cases Figuring out whether it’s real or fake
Electronic discovery is not always extensive, complex, or wildly expensive. It’s used in many types of legal actions where the dollar amount in dispute isn’t great (less than $100,000), there’s not a large quantity of ESI to go through, or there’s only one or a few data custodians who also might be one of the parties in the lawsuit. Small-matter litigation are common occurrences in both state and federal courts. Breach of contract, Internet defamation, divorce, or custody disputes, which fall under state law, and theft of intellectual property or trade secrets, personal bankruptcy, employment discrimination, and harassment heard in federal courts are examples. Much of small litigation is person-vs-person, in contrast to enterprise-vs-enterprise, litigation. People operate their lives from their digital devices, leaving histories that, if properly handled, may be admissible in court.
In this topic, you find out how e-discovery can be affordable and critical to discovering the truth in small cases. These cases don’t require a full arsenal of litigation support services or a fully stocked e-discovery team. The price tag for cases that are e-discovery light can come in under $2,000. You also read about the rule on proportionality, which keeps e-discovery within the scale of the value at issue. Establishing and protecting the integrity of the e-evidence plays a big role because often opponents know each other and have access to each other’s laptops and cellphones. And you also read how IT policies that allow personal use of company-owned laptops or cellphone devices make those devices subject to forensic search in domestic and other personal cases.
