For attorneys handling criminal defense cases, one of the biggest obstacles they must overcome is the proverbial “document dump” from the government. A document dump involves hard drives that contain hundreds of gigabytes (GB) or several terabytes of documents and other media. When the government turns over this information during the discovery process, defense attorneys are forced to comb through millions upon millions of pages of various documents. Although “document dumps” are usually associated with corporate investigations and white collar cases, large quantities of discovery are now being found in more cases involving individual defendants.
The ever increasing amount of texts, emails, photos, and voicemails that can be stored on cellphones, tablets, and computers at any given time has led to large amounts of electronic data being included in discovery productions for criminal cases. The result is that criminal defense lawyers are being burdened with several terabytes of electronic discovery that must be meticulously classified and reviewed to ensure that important documents are not “buried” under irrelevant evidence. Unfortunately, massive amounts of electronically stored information (“ESI”) have made it very difficult for individuals charged with a criminal case to defend themselves. This is because reviewing ESI that has been dumped on a defendant requires money, manpower, and technology software that is not easily accessible to the average person.
The costs for file hosting and licensing that is necessary for reviewing and processing sizable ESI can be very expensive. ESI hosting and software licensing can cost a defendant $100-$150 per GB per month. This means a 300,000-document production, which is a small amount of ESI, can end up costing a defendant $2,000-$2,500 per month. If the case goes on for months or years, the defendant will continue to incur these substantial financial expenses. As a result, defendants are spending thousands of dollars a month on extra legal fees just to find out if prosecutors have a case against them.
Las Vegas Criminal Defense Attorney
At the Law Office of David R. Fischer, our attorney understands the stress that defendants go through after a document dump. Although it is a daunting task to review terabytes on terabytes of discovery that have been intentionally scattered, attorney Fischer makes it his personal duty to analyze every piece of evidence in order to find the crucial documents that you need to defend your rights. Attorney Fischer and his team possess the technological tools and know-how to help you with your case. Let us use our skills and resources to assist you today.
Call (702) 866.9864 to schedule your free consultation with our Las Vegas criminal defense lawyer.