eDiscovery and defending corporate fraud allegations
For employees of high-profile business firms, gone are the days of paper shredders and filing cabinets with security codes. In today’s digital age, they must do much more to secure business documents against data breaches.
Mishandling of sensitive online documents may put one at risk of facing allegations of corporate fraud or espionage. Thankfully, electronic discovery, or eDiscovery, can help provide compelling evidence to dispute these serious charges.
How does eDiscovery work?
It refers to the discovery of electronically stored information (ESI) for use as evidence in legal proceedings.
Traditionally, discovery in litigation and other court trials takes the form of tangible, physical pieces of information such as medical records, recorded interviews and written testimonies.
In eDiscovery, we follow the same process of producing and obtaining relevant information that can help advance a case. The only difference is that eDiscovery looks for electronic records or documents that are only available or stored online.
Is electronic evidence better than physical evidence?
Any type of evidence is vital in any case. However, ESI covers larger volumes of information that may be available online. So, while paper documents are equally important, digital records can be easier to access.
Imagine the number of chats, texts, and emails an individual utilizes daily. Massive digital records are also available on phones, vehicle dashboards and other gadgets. ESI is also often accompanied by metadata, which can reveal deeper information through metadata analysis.
In large-scale, white-collar crimes wherein most information is stored online and concealed using multiple blockchain layers, eDiscovery can help uncover deep-rooted data outside standard channels. If digital forensics is involved, it is even possible to recover deleted information and detect alterations.
Defending oneself against allegations of corporate fraud may be hard for ordinary employees. That is why eDiscovery has become an essential tool in modern litigation. It has revolutionized our approach to investigating white-collar crimes.
