In this fith of six case studies/scenarios, James Moeskops, sets out the case for Millnet’s approach to searching backup material using the powerful and low-cost Index Engines technology.

Scenario 5 – When trying to establish the absence of evidence of an act or omission.

Millnet has assisted with many intellectual property and other forms of commercial disputes where the defendants have struggled to find a method of proving the lack of any evidence to support the claim against the firm. Put another way, to prove the negative.

The challenge is that a firm which is sure that it does not have any evidence of wrong doing (such as for instance copies of a competitor’s commercially sensitive documents or other intellectual property) does not want to incur significant cost to prove this.

This latest service from Millnet assists in these circumstances – whether you are representing the party which believes there is incriminating evidence somewhere on the corporate network, or the party that is sure there isn’t but does not have a cost effective means of proving it.

Continue reading →

In this fourth of six case studies/scenarios, James Moeskops, sets out the case for Millnet’s approach to searching backup material using the powerful and low-cost Index Engines technology.

Scenario 4 – Struggling with proportionality or cost issues where the sources of electronic documents are wide and search parameters are unclear or disputed.

A very common scenario is where you are advising a client facing disclosure where there is potentially a large volume of electronic information to search, such as one or more email servers, central shared file servers and a multitude of desktop or laptop computers. This scenario is complicated when the sums involved are relatively low or where the client is very reluctant to incur high costs, especially those associated with a third party provider of electronic disclosure services.

Historically, this scenario may result in the client trying to do all or most of the searching and collection work using internal IT resource, hiring a low cost and not necessarily expert third party themselves or opting to take the stance that a very narrow or limited search is appropriate and defensible under CPR Part 31 and PD 31B.

Even relatively small companies will have some form of backup system in place. It will almost certainly be a breach of the Companies Act or at least highly negligent to not have such a backup in place to ensure business continuity in the event of a disaster such as fire or flood. Backup tapes have been, and still are, the most common media for creation and storage of backups. They are low cost, store very large volumes of data and can easily be transported to a secondary site or stored in a fireproof safe.

Assuming you are following the guidelines set out in the CPR Part 31 and PD 31B and the Electronic Documents Questionnaire, you will be aware of your clients’ backup systems and policies. If they are using such systems and backing up to tape, Index Engines can offer these benefits -

• Super fast. The contents of backup tape(s) are made searchable at hundreds of gigabytes per hour!
• Low cost. Charged on a per tape basis, starting at £300.
• High volume. Modern backup tapes can store in excess of 10 million emails and attachments on a single tape.
• Forensically sound. Backup tapes are a forensically sound source of electronic documents.
• Minimum hassle. Most companies have existing backup processes in place and can provide backup tape(s) with little notice or hassle.
• Go back in time. Most companies have a backup policy that may involve archiving data back over many years.

Further information – Millnet Smart e-Discovery :: Index Engines

In this third of six case studies/scenarios, James Moeskops, sets out the case for Millnet’s approach to searching backup material using the powerful and low-cost Index Engines technology.

Scenario 3 – Arguing against a request for specific disclosure of backup tapes on the basis of proportionality.

This scenario is similar to my previous example – except in this case “the shoe is on the other foot”.

If you are facing a request for specific disclosure or worse, a Final Order, then it pays to be aware of Millnet’s new Index Engines service.

Depending on the circumstances, it may be possible to respond to these requests (or even exceed them) within the tightest of deadlines and at a lower cost than you may have anticipated.

If in the past you have argued that it is not proportionate to search backup tapes (or are planning to argue thus), it may be necessary to re-think this argument.

Continue reading →

In this second of six case studies/scenarios, James Moeskops, sets out the case for Millnet’s approach to searching backup material using the powerful and low-cost Index Engines technology.

Scenario 2 – Seeking specific disclosure from opponent who is arguing that the request is disproportionate.

If you are facing a request for specific disclosure or worse, a Final Order, then it pays to be aware of Millnet’s new Index Engines service.

Depending on the circumstances, it may be possible to respond to these requests (or even exceed them) within the tightest of deadlines and at a lower cost than you may have anticipated.

Millnet has recently assisted a law firm client to respond to a Final Order to search the “central server” of an organisation that had 156 servers, none of which could be considered to be the “central” server.

Continue reading →

The retrieval of potential evidence from backup tapes my not be a subject that sets the pulse racing (for some of us at least) and the effort required to do so may hitherto have been ruled out on cost/proportionality grounds anyway. The emergence of new technology has changed all that and lawyers now need to be aware of what’s possible, if for no other reason to avoid being caught unawares when the other side suddenly demands it..

In this first of six case studies/scenarios, James Moeskops, sets out the case for Millnet’s approach to searching backup material using the powerful and low-cost Index Engines technology.

Scenario 1 – Seeking to gain tactical advantage by searching widely over your client’s electronic documents at relatively low cost.

If you are representing the claimant in a commercial dispute and you believe that the defendant is likely to be in possession of electronic documents of critical importance to your case, but…

Continue reading →