ESI: Discovering the Electronic Data

In courts the electronic discovery is the process of sorting  the electronic or other non paper format data with intent to use the data as evidence in the criminal or civil legal case. The electronic data can be in varying forms like electrical, magnetic, mechanical, wireless or optical etc. The data can be stored on a compact disc, hard drive, flash drive or any other electronic device.

The term Electronically Stored Information (ESI) is used for the discoverable stored data. The ESI in the e-court software is backed up and cannot be completely destroyed without access rights.  The ESI can be discovered online, offline, onsite or offsite.

The ESI must be captured whenever any data related evidence is needed. Trained person should be employed to handle the ESI. Unauthorized human intervention in the data is totally restricted by the security features of the ESI thus making the information stored ESI more authentic and secure.

During a court proceeding, data is identified on both sides of the matter and potentially relevant data are placed under a legal hold that implies it cannot be modified, deleted or erased otherwise.

The potentially relevant data is then extracted, well indexed and stored in a database. This data is then hosted securely and made accessible to the reviewers who require it to code them to the legal matter for the sake of its relevance. The relevant documents finally sorted are converted to the static format like PDF or TIFF making it secure from any non relevant or unauthorized alterations. Further the Computer Assisted Review or the Technology Assisted Review are available in the e-court software that makes the review process easy and fast thus assisting the attorneys and lawyers. Producing a core volume of data (evidences and other information) for the litigation in a defensible manner is the ultimate goal of the e-discovery.