Post-Pandemic Shift for E-Discovery and Forensic Experts

As a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic, e-discovery and digital forensics have practically changed overnight. For experts, the pandemic resulted in a significant shift impacting cost, consolidation and new case types. Remote hearings are far more widespread now, and with the increased use of video-sharing technologies like Zoom, the cost of an expert has been greatly reduced. Clients are benefitting from having experts remotely join hearings, depositions and trials without having to pay for travel and expenses. The expert’s location is no longer a factor in deciding who to hire. They can be chosen from anywhere in the country, which is particularly significant since experts are highly specialized in certain technologies or industries. The e-discovery industry has undergone significant mergers and acquisitions among software providers and vendors, while digital forensics needs to know how changes might affect the use of software within their investigations. Although forensics and the subsequent expert work done for forensics cases may not seem as prevalent as e-discovery, some movements in forensics mirror those in the e-discovery field. Forensic experts are now being used for new case types, such as construction litigation, medical malpractice and employment litigation, specifically intellectual property theft.  Changeover in the expert field, changes in software and new case types all contribute to shifts that are important to note for any future engagement of an expert.