Forensics for Class Action Lawsuits
We are E-Discovery lawyers and forensics experts providing services to law firms throughout the United States. Our digital forensics handle collection, preservation, and electronic evidence production for Class Action litigation. Whether you represent the plaintiff or defendant, our team will strategize and work to get you the results you need.
Effective forensics is essential to gather all potential electronically stored evidence for your class action. We collect and preserve data from cell phones, computers, websites, and social media. Common class action lawsuits include:
- Defective Products
- Employee Discrimination
- Group Activism
- Care Home Abuse
How Digital Forensics Play a Key Role
Where to Look for Electronic Evidence
Consider this class action against a drug company. In developing a drug to treat type 2 diabetes, studies showed that the pills posed a risk of kidney failure. Overlooking this risk, the company released it to the public anyway. Later, doctors prescribed the same pills to their patients with type 2 diabetes. The patients were never informed of the potential risk. After a couple of years, some suffered kidney and liver failure. The class action alleged the drug caused organ failure.
In this case, cell phone and computer forensics secured key evidence for both the class members and the defense. For example:
- Computer records showed the drug was not properly tested, and that it should not have been released to the public.
- Cell phone and computer forensics proved some class members were already in poor health before taking the drug. Evidence uncovered unhealthy eating habits, lack of exercise, and that some were taking over 15 different medications daily.
- Don’t forget social media! Social media forensics undermined certain claims. Class members claimed the medication caused tiredness and loss of energy. Yet social media postings showed some members competing in sports events and claiming they were in the “best shape of their lives.”
Ensure Evidence Admissibility Class Action
How about a class action for price-fixing? In this context, you’ll want to review communications from email, text, or other messaging platforms. Smoking gun evidence can be buried in the text message history. For example:
Dave: “Have you contacted the ABC Company to agree to our product pricing?”
Paul: “Yes, they have agreed to charge the same pricing as we do, within a 1% range.”
Dave: “How many competitors have we obtained agreements with?”
Paul: “I don’t know exactly without checking, but it is over 20.”
With all the time and effort that goes into eDiscovery, we ensure your evidence remains admissible in court. Our forensic software and collection practices are fully defensible preserving the integrity of the evidence for your class action.
Our Forensics Reduce Your Class Action Costs
Once we’ve identified all sources of evidence, we forensically extract the images, videos, text messages, call logs, notes, voicemail, and application data. You can imagine that quickly becomes an overwhelming amount of items to sort through. For your class action, our forensics expert will work with you to develop a Discovery Protocol and apply effective culling strategies. This way we reduce the amount of data and by extension, your eDiscovery costs.
For example, we focus the review on certain timeframes with begin and end-date filters, or to only those messages sent or received from certain people. Also, our forensic analyst will work with you to exclude other items, such as:
- Confidential Information. Protect your client’s relationship with their employer. We will cull to avoid accidentally producing electronic evidence with confidential information such as intellectual property or trade secrets to the other party or the court.
- Privileged Communications. For obvious reasons, we also cull all attorney-client communications or other privileged messages.
After reducing the amount of data, we produce evidence in one of two platforms. We will produce for you the relevant, non-privileged electronic evidence in either: In-House Document Review Software for electronic evidence, or in a convenient Desktop Evidence Report. The size of your case and the volume of data will indicate the platform that is best for you. Read more about either of those here.
Read more here: Class Action FAQs