Statement of Confidentiality

Statement of Confidentiality Information as used herein, “information” shall mean both (i) written information received from the other party which is marked or identified as confidential, and (ii) oral or visual information identified as confidential at the time of disclosure which is summarized in writing and provided to the other party in such written form promptly after such oral or visual disclosure. Each party may use information received from the other party hereunder, and may provide such information to its parent corporation, if applicable, and their respective employees or any subcontractors, (including proposed partner(s)) for their use only in connection with the evaluation and execution of this agreement. Each party agrees that, for a period of two (2) years from receipt of information, such party shall use the same means it uses to protect its own confidential and proprietary information, but in any event not less than reasonable means, to prevent the disclosure and to protect the confidentiality of the information received. The foregoing shall not prevent either party from disclosing information which belongs to such party or is (i) already known by the recipient party without an obligation of confidentiality, (ii) publicly known or becomes publicly known through no unauthorized act of the recipient party, (iii) rightfully received from a third party without obligation of confidentiality, (iv) independently developed by the recipient party without use of the other party’s information, (v) disclosed without similar restrictions to a third party by the party owning the information, (vi) approved by the other party for disclosure, or (vii) required to be disclosed pursuant to a requirement of a governmental agency or law so long as the disclosing party provides the other party with notice of such requirement prior to any such disclosure.

Executive Summary

Today the discovery process in many corporate legal departments and their outside law firms is defined by skyrocketing and unpredictable costs, inconsistent processes, and increased risk resulting from production errors. Typical outsourcing agreements have resulted in ad hoc vendor relationships adding expense and increased exposure without leveraging the power of an enterprise-wide comprehensive solution.  DERS provides a full range of electronic discovery services from assessing and collecting the relevant data, gathering responsive data, and producing the documents in a litigation environment for an end to end solution. Organizations involved with litigation or internal investigations are finding it more important than ever to be able to efficiently preserve, collect, review and produce electronically stored information.
The relevant information may be stored in numerous technical formats and in various locations. It is often scattered amongst such non-traditional data sources as e-mails, backup tapes, instant-messages and a host of removable media anywhere in the world. Additionally, lawyers are now faced with unprecedented volumes of data and are under pressure to focus on high-value activities while still providing disclosure that is proportionate to the proceedings in question. Given these challenges, it is easy to see why law firms and General Counsel turn to the experienced eDiscovery professionals of DERSto help manage their e-discovery workloads.

DERS eDiscovery services are delivered by a diverse team of dedicated professionals including information technology professionals, former law enforcement professionals as well as forensic analysts, amongst others. By leveraging their technical, industry, investigative and procedural experience they can help identify and preserve evidence and present it in a clear and concise manner. DERS employs strict adherence to chain of custody procedures to help ensure evidentiary integrity.

Because we don’t practice law, we often work in cooperation with internal and external legal counsel, who can provide guidance on the scope of the matter and help determine which records are pertinent and should be produced.

Features

E-Discovery / Enterprise Forensic Response Planning

• Identification and location of data to be collected
• Collection / Preservation of data
• Process / Review / Analysis of responsive data
• Production of Responsive data to client
• Presentation of Forensic / E-Discovery Report
• Monthly Database Activity Reports

Benefits

• E-Discovery / Enterprise Forensics processes shared by DERS and clients are well-defined in advance, and ready to use when an incident occurs.  DERS meets with client security organizations periodically to ensure that the response processes remain accurate and current.
  
• DERS has the ability to integrate with privacy, security, data management and other business processes.
  
• DERS has resolved E-Discovery / computer forensics needs in many industries and leverages that experience and expertise on behalf of all of its clients
• The retainer pricing provides clients with a manageable, predictable monthly fee whereas ad hoc expenses cannot be a reliably forecast.

Advantages

• The DERS has offered Computer Forensic & E-Discovery service.  Its Processes and Procedures are robust, mature and frequently updated to keep in step with government and industry regulatory concerns.
  
• DERS E-Discovery Services can assist clients in reducing the time, expense and risks associated with the e-discovery process. We can help our clients leverage the appropriate people, processes and technology to defensibly and efficiently manage all phases of the electronic discovery reference model (EDRM). We can provide these services entirely, helping to ensure that your data never leaves the country or on a multi-jurisdictional/international basis.
  
• DERS E-Discovery services are delivered by a diverse team of highly trained professionals including information technology professionals, former law enforcement professionals as well as forensic analysts, amongst others. By leveraging their technical, industry, investigative and procedural experience they can help identify and preserve evidence and present it in a clear and concise manner. DERS employs strict adherence to chain of custody procedures to help ensure evidentiary integrity.

Description of Service

Service Specifics

The standard process components for E-Discovery / Enterprise Forensic Response Services provided under this offering are:

• Startup / Data Mapping
• ESI Gathering & Analysis
• Storage Review
• Production (Optional Uplift)
• Final conclusion Report
• Monthly Database Activity Reports

E-Discovery / Computer Forensics Services

E-Discovery refers to the process in which electronic data is sought, located, secured, and searched with the intent of using it as evidence in a civil or criminal legal case. E-discovery can be carried out offline on a particular computer or it can be performed on network based devices.

Computer Forensics is considered to be the use of analytical and investigative techniques to identify, collect, examine and preserve evidence/information which is magnetically stored or encoded.

DERS provides timely and orderly response to E-Discovery & Computer Forensic Requests.

E-Discovery / Enterprise Forensic Response Planning

DERS and the client collaborate before the installation of Computer Response services, so that the processes and information necessary to respond to an incident are known before the incident occurs.  This table shows the outputs created during the planning process.

E-Discovery Response Management Process Flow

     When performing E-Discovery services, DERS follows the standard EDRM methodology: 

E-Discovery / Enterprise Forensic Services Provided

E-Discovery / Enterprise Forensic Services provided by this agreement include the following:

Engagement Process:  DERS responds to all E-Discovery / Enterprise Forensic Requests upon notification by client.   DERS also accepts notification of possible E-Discovery / Enterprise Forensic requests on an on-call 24x7x365 basis from the sources identified during Computer Forensic / E-Discovery Response Planning.  DERS assures response to its clients of a E-Discovery / Enterprise Forensic need within a prescribed timeframe after notification.

E-Discovery Service:  DERS will conduct regular triage sessions to ensure proper deployment of staff and resources toward the highest priority requests.  This triage also ensure that the appropriate DERS, Client, and industry resources are assigned to the request..

DERS offers a broad range of E-Discovery / Enterprise Forensic services including:

Assess The development of a discovery plan for securing pertinent electronic data

• Assist with identification of relevant data (electronic sources)
• Preservation of Electronic Evidence 

Harvest and Collect Electronically stored information is collected from disparate sources, including e-mail, network servers, backup tapes, and more.

• Collect all relevant electronic data using appropriate forensic methodologies
• Initial filtering and culling performed, including pre-conversion, de-duplication and search filtering to limit the amount of data for later review and conversion
• Normalization of all data file types for efficient review and production

Review Keyword filtering and concept clustering are used to eliminate non-responsive, duplicative, and irrelevant data.

• Culling and Filtering the "Native" files
• Identify Relevant and Privileged documents
• Determine "Responsive" subset
• Client Service Managers with Specific Litigation Expertise

Process Document conversion, metadata extraction, optical character recognition, and other processes are utilized to produce load files. 

Produce Electronic production of pre-determined file types helps ensure the capture, inclusion, and delivery of all relevant documents.

• Numbering, Branding, and Redaction
• Native Review and Delivery
• Production Tracking and Reporting – Chain of Custody
• Verifiable, Replicable and Defensible chain of custody

Account/Client Notification Process:  DERS will ensure that the account and client’s designated executive(s), as defined during Computer Forensic / E-Discovery Response Planning, are involved not only involved with the initial planning stages of the response but are also continuously informed with ongoing status updates as the work progresses.

Final Report:  For each forensic request, a final report will be prepared based on the Client’s Custom Response/Request Plan – as defined during Computer Forensic/E-Discovery Planning process. 

Monthly Database Activity Reports: Normal, periodic reporting covers basic weekly status reports for Computer Forensic / E-Discovery requests as well as monthly activity and trending reports based on client specific historical data. As part of the initial Computer Forensic / E-Discovery offering, monthly reporting includes details on the following:

• Assessment of Forensic / E-Discovery Request
• Current state of case: data collection, preservation, or analysis
• Case conclusion
• Size and complexity of service request
• Hours utilized

Retainer Services

DERS Enterprise Forensic / E-Discovery Services can also be sold on a retainer basis, by payment of a fixed monthly fee to DERS.  This gives you the ability to more accurately forecast your expenses for Enterprise Forensic / E-Discovery, since requests such as this cannot be reliably predicted. Each month there is a pool of hours allotted for Forensics / E-Discovery Services to be used for actual service requests.

The pool of hours allotted and the cost of the Enterprise Forensic / E-Discovery retainer is directly related to the size and complexity of the environment. In order to ensure the appropriate retainer is in place, an quarterly sizing review of the environment is performed to ensure appropriate ongoing coverage.

DERS realizes that those hours may not be fully utilized every month.  Accordingly, Client is able to accumulate hours on a rolling 12-month period.