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Navigating through bankruptcy can be a daunting prospect for receivers, debtors, and creditors. According to S&P Global, as of December 2020, there have been 610 corporate Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings, the highest rate since 2012, and court activity is expected to accelerate as courts clear their pandemic backlogs.

Many people are unaware that their phones store a wealth of information about their daily lives. Extending far beyond text messages and voicemails, this information often is a treasure trove for skilled digital forensic examiners.

Most people don’t think of family law as a high technology practice area, but practitioners routinely encounter issues that necessitate digital forensics, eDiscovery, cybersecurity, and IT expertise. Here is a sampling of how such issues can arise in family law practices:

Organizations increasingly are relying on video conferencing platforms to conduct daily business affairs. Did you realize that many of these platforms save recordings, including potentially on individual employees’ computers or in the cloud? For example, Zoom is a widely used video conferencing tool, and recordings can be saved either online with Zoom, or locally on a PC. (In Windows, the default location is C:\Users\[Profile Name]\Documents\Zoom.) 

Six months ago, for many, working from home was a perk. Today, remote work often is a necessity. Many companies have learned that they can thrive with a smaller office footprint, and the trend toward remote workforces likely will continue after COVID-19 is a distant memory.

One of the most aggravating things when working on a computer is it automatically restarting after installing an update, often causing you to lose unsaved work.  As aggravating as this can be, Windows updates are necessary to keep our computers running smoothly.  This is a process called “patching”.  Windows updates address known security vulnerabilities, make the computers run more smoothly, and can even save your business.  Once a security hole becomes public knowledge, attackers will rush to start exploiting the vulnerability.

Although eDiscovery preservation obligations typically begin when a party reasonably anticipates litigation, organizations often begin planning before such needs arise. At a high level, the eDiscovery lifecycle consists of the following stages, which often can overlap or recur within a particular case.

I hope everyone is staying healthy and reasonably sane during these unprecedented times. Although reasonable minds can differ on what policy actions governments should take, hopefully we can all be civil and respectful to each other.

ELIJAH has remained open for business during the recent COVID-19 pandemic, providing essential services to our clients while complying with local legal requirements and best practices for public health. We appreciate your patience with necessary adjustments to service offerings that often had been provided on an in-person basis.