Theft of Trade Secrets

LJ Forensics was involved in a case where one employee left and immediately began work for the competitor. The following questions were raised by the court:

• Are the software programs used by the defense substantially similar to those used by the Plaintiff?
• Is there any indication that the defendant has copied, utilized or misappropriated any confidential or proprietary information or technology pertaining to computer programming, software or source code from the Plaintiff?
  
  This case is a good example of how the procedures in e-discovery and pure computer forensics are equally as important. The methods used by e-discovery through interrogatories, and specific tools to limit the amount of information extracted is supported by sound computer forensic procedures beginning with the chain of custody through the analysis phase. By utilizing the skills necessary from both partners these questions were able to be answered and supported. Again in this case e-mail was a great asset in creating a time line for actions as well as supporting documentation to questions asked at the original depositions.
  
  Employee Embezzlement
  
  The case of employee embezzlement was approached by a standard forensic approach. The employee who went to great extents to delete both email and data to hide his/her activities were found by utilizing the proper software and having skilled forensic examiners know where to look for artifacts.
  
  Ethics Charges
  
  LJ Forensics was involved in a case of Attorney Ethics. This case involved an attorney accused of altering a document in order to extract $100,000 from a client. The problem with this case as does happen in the real world is that a long time passed before a technical expert was consulted. The outcome of this case was that it was discovered that the clock on the computer had been changed to hide the correct date of the document. This was proven by files that are left resident on the system that a non-skilled individual would not know existed. Even though the original document was altered and removed, artifacts remained that told the story.
  
  In Summary
  
  LJ Forensics has also been involved in child pornography cases, employee missue and multiple cases where accounts and documents were hidden. Regardless of the type of case, whether it is on a small or a grand scale, each case is handled with the same dedication to adhering to the code of ethics, standards and procedures to ensure that what has been presented as potential evidence can be supported by facts.