Investigative Computer Forensics: The Practical Guide for Lawyers, Accountants, Investigators, and Business Executives

CHAPTER 8

E-Discovery Responsibilities

Because electronic discovery has taken on an increasingly important role in the litigation process over the course of the past 15 years, it is vital for any investigator or executive managing an investigation to understand the basic concepts of this area of the law. This section discusses some of the primary components of the electronic discovery process and the impact that the intersection of forensic investigations may have on it.

Lawyers, investigators, and practitioners within the electronic discovery space have wrestled for years with the challenge of producing a model or framework that can best describe the electronic discovery and information management life cycle. As a result, the model that has gained most universal acceptance is what is known as the EDRM or electronic discovery reference model. This very basic high-level model of the electronic discovery life cycle provides some universal concepts and vocabulary to an industry process that many view as fractured, inconsistent, and challenging to understand and manage.

The electronic discovery reference model's primary proposition is that it allows an individual with almost no prior experience to quickly understand the basic roles, responsibilities, and processes of the electronic discovery life cycle. It begins with the premise that the goal of the electronic discovery process is to reduce a large data set to a smaller data set while simultaneously increasing the relevance of that ...