Litigation Support & Legal Document Services Offering specialised products and services, coupled with proven techniques, Altlaw provides technological expertise in electronic litigation support and legal document services. With many years’ experience of working with law firms and in-house counsel, Altlaw dramatically speeds up the process of identifying, reviewing and managing relevant data files. Our focus is to perfect techniques and processes which allow our clients to make better informed decisions at the earliest possible point in the litigation procedure. How we can help Forensic Collection & Investigation Early Case Assessment Electronic Data Disclosure Secure Online Review Altlaw Managed Review Hardcopy & Data Production Forensics Collection & Investigation Data Capture An often neglected area in the litigation process is the efficient and traceable collection and recovery of client data. Crucial to this process is ensuring that all data is collected and handled correctly. Altlaw’s certified computer forensic investigators can travel worldwide for autonomous defensible data collection Any type of evidence collection method available, from open data stop orders, to covert monitoring or data capture Data collected from any electronic device and any storage medium All procedures follow a Silver Platter Doctrine standard, in line with law enforcement procedures Full Chain of Custody is available from project start to finish, ensuring zero risk against data spoilation Data Investigation Often key data is hidden, intentionally destroyed or password protected. To ensure all evidence is subject to a litigation review, Altlaw’s computer forensics investigators can quickly build cases based on custodial data, revealing off-site email, portable storage usage or user-created passwords. Using these techniques, clients can be confident that absolutely everything has been considered, right from the very beginning. Deleted files are recovered, user-created protected data is revealed and file encryption is cracked Computer investigation is backed up with full Chain of Custody and a defensible expert witness statement Once the forensic investigation is complete, clients have a clear, complete and accurate picture of exactly what took place, when, on any one piece of electronic equipment – and who was responsible for doing it 1 Early Case Assessment Before a decision can be made on whether there is enough evidence to build a case, litigation lawyers need to be very familiar with all the documents that have been forensically captured - or that their client has provided. But there may be millions of pages to review. Altlaw’s Early Case Assessment (ECA) tool is a powerful review platform that dramatically reduces the time it takes to review vast numbers of documents. For example, it usually takes at least two to three weeks to review one terabyte of data. With our ECA tool, it takes just one day. Quickly determine the merit of a case Our Early Case Assessment tool will: Cluster documents together using keywords and concepts Prioritise documents and disregard duplicates/near duplicates Enable the handling of vast amounts of data by searching, analysing and modelling the documents Produce reports in seconds to give detailed insight into the data Estimate downstream/future review/case costs, allowing earlier informed decisions to be made Our ECA tool gives early insight into the shape and profile of the data that needs to be reviewed. This will give a much clearer picture as to whether or not there is a case to answer for - and the likely cost of contesting it. 2 Electronic Data Disclosure If there is no need for Early Case Assessment, clients can proceed straight to Electronic Data Disclosure (EDD). This is a vital step that adds valuable structure to data files, enabling easier and more focussed analysis at the review stage. The metadata is extracted from each file and the main text of the document saved in a separate database. These documents can then be sorted by date, subject, title etc so that everything is in a structure and format that makes it very easy to search. All the data is then ready to be hosted in a review system – either the client’s own system or ours. How our EDD process works All data is processed in the most efficient and intelligent way possible and a detailed audit trail is produced to ensure legal compliance Everything is assigned a unique identifier – separating items such as emails and their attachments, while still maintaining a record of these relationships The Chain of Custody is upheld throughout Filters can be run based on dates and keywords All the metadata remains intact, so there is no data spoliation The data can be exported in different formats, compatible with all major review platforms We have produced data for the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission amongst others 3 The Altlaw Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) The EDRM is a guideline that was created to help understand and standardise the management of data within electronic disclosure/discovery process. Below is an illustration of how Altlaws’ services and applications fit within each section of the model. Early Cas Forensic Collection & Investigation Information Management Identification Preservation Collection Collection VOLUME 4 Altlaw Managed Review Secure Online Review Hardcopy & Document Production se Assessment Electronic Data Disclosure Processing Production Presentation Review Analysis RELEVANCE Source: Electronic Discovery Reference Model / © 2009 / v2.0 / edrm.net 5 Altlaw Managed Review Altlaw provide a localised solution for document intensive review from our secure premises in London. Our level of involvement can be tailored to what you require and where you seek to create greater efficiencies in the e-Disclosure process. We can eliminate the time, effort and cost of recruiting, training or retraining your staff. Crucially, Altlaw Managed Review allows your legal team to focus on their core high-value case work, while we manage and reduce the time-consuming and costly process of first pass document review for both litigation, regulatory investigation and compliance matters. Altlaw Managed Review will: Allow predictable cost models Provide work stations, internet connectivity and hosting software located in our secure premises in central London Provide and manage review teams of experienced solicitors and paralegals Assist with creating matter-specific review manuals respecting the principles of Practice Direction 31B and the CPR Automate workflow and implement quality assurance check points Produce timely progress reports and metrics Provide a fluid body of responsive e-documents capable of being arranged and grouped by each document’s proper context to enhance your detailed case review Our Managed Review service delivers streamlined, high-quality document review solutions so that you and your team can focus on the substantive issues of the day. No matter the size or scope of the project our seasoned team will tackle it, and with our transparent pricing, we remove all of the guess work. 6 Secure Online Review Altlaw’s advanced online review platform makes the entire document review process easy to manage, and gives you full control over everyone in the review team. Hosted in our secure London data centre, it’s a web-based review platform that can be accessed from anywhere in the world. All that’s needed is an internet connection. This makes it ideal if there is a team of reviewers based in different locations, or third party reviewers. Maintain complete control over the review process Search, review and organise the documents to rapidly identify whether or not a document is relevant Manage everyone in the review team easily and effectively Automatically allocate files to the different levels of the review team Control which files team members have access to Save valuable time and money in online review time Full production capability, including converting to TIFF, redacting and bates stamping Automated disclosure list creation 7 Hardcopy & Data Production Speed: very fast turnaround times to meet tight deadlines Quality: rigorous attention to detail and strict checking procedures ensure 100% accuracy Volume: capable of handling millions of pages Complexity: high levels of in-house expertise and the latest specialist equipment mean even the most complex of projects can be undertaken 24/7 operation: able to take a client’s brief at any time of the day or night Photocopying Capable of huge volumes, our print room comprises of fast, networked high volume machines as well as smaller digital machines that are ideal for complex glasswork type jobs. Scanning AltLaw offers fully integrated scanning and image capture solutions. We are able to capture any size of document, from a business card up to 60’’ large format of virtually unlimited length or volume, in either b/w or full colour. E Bibles AltLaw is able to produce a bespoke Electronic Transaction Bible based upon the universally used Adobe Acrobat format. We are able to incorporate both scanned images and supplied electronic formats, in a final product that is both easy to navigate from the index page, and fully searchable. Printing from disk Using specialist software, AltLaw is capable of printing from CDs, DVDs and most removable storage media. Multiple file formats within complex directory structures are printed in the correct order automatically. Objective coding Litigation-class coding is either managed securely in-house or outsourced for competitive pricing. We can set up standard objective coding templates to add value to simple scanning projects. 8 Altlaw Limited 205-207 City Road, London EC1V 1JN t: +44 (0)20 7490 1646 f: +44 (0)20 7490 2565 e: production@altlaw.co.uk w: www.altlaw.co.uk