Career Advice for Attorney Looking to Get into Forensics

Hi I have a question regarding where I should focus my efforts in gaining employment in this field.

Currently I'm an attorney licensed in Florida and Washington DC with about six years of experience.

Since I have a lot of experience in e-discovery and products liability litigation I’ve started taking classes to be come EnCase Certified and also become a CCE (Certified Computer Examiner). I'm also getting the EnCE discovery certification. I've litigated numerous e-discovery issues and worked with experts in the field at length, but I would really like to specialize in the field 100%.

My question really is assuming I successfully obtain these certs (which I am already in the process of doing) where do you think I should focus my efforts in terms of finding a position? Also, is DC a good market for finding a job in e-discovery/forensics?

Any and all comments or questions are welcome. Let me know if you need any more information.

I think DC is an excellent market, with both competitors and opportunities abound - you also being a licensed attorney is a big deal. I say keep your options open and don't shortchange yourself - shoot for the moon! Either open shop on your own and advertise a ton OR sign up with one of the major firms in either DC or Florida to get your feet wet, ensuring that the anti-competition clause is not too prohibitive. I would also recommend emailing Craig Ball, who is a pioneer in the e-discovery field in terms of coming from the legal end (he was also an attorney).

Mark,

Thanks for the encouragement. Do you think I would be employable at one of the big e-discovery/forensic firms? I come from a litigation perspective so my interface with forensics has been limited to dealing with experts and arguing the legal principle in court.

I have an IT background and thanks to the courses from EnCase and the CCE bootcamp I'm much more capable and knowledgeable about forensics although my practical experience is limited. I will probably be finished with my Certs in a couple of months so I think my qualifications will look something like this.

JD from top 50 school/Law License (6 yrs litigation exp)

CCE, EnCE, EnCEp

Will this be enough to find a job? I'm completely open to the technical side or the legal side but am trying my best to acquire a combination of skill that will be desirable in the market.

Thanks,

An attorney friend of mine in Memphis used to work for a Big4 in forensic consultancy (her position at that time wasn't in Memphis). So it's possible, but it's also a fairly saturated job market at entry level.

You may do better as an eDisco attorney than crossing the fence. Good eDisco attys are still fairly rare.

I agree on eD direction.

DC & Baltimore is a good market for eD & forensics work.

Yes, the EnCE and CCE will give you real understanding of the underlying forensics issues, but eD is a multi-billion dollar industry where a technical savvy, and forensically trained attorney can make a financial killing.

I would concentrate on eD, specifically to understand predictive coding (gag) how they work in various implementation.

Read up on cumulative frequency analysis, latent semantic analysis and singular value decomposition. We are talking 19th century linear algebra and statistics…

As others noted - attorneys are dime a dozen here. Forensics and eD specialists with legal background is few and far between.

<rant>
Most software vendors are pretending that this is something new, and selling a bucket of horse manure to both the courts and law firms.

I 'love' their "magic black box". evil

It is not new, and by studying it you can pass vendor's understanding in two days, and provide a superior service to your clients.

And they say we do not need math any more in schools . . . Seriously?
</rant>

Nanotek-

We've got an almost identical background. I'm doing work for a law firm specializing in infosec right now.

NYC and DC have lots of e-discovery vendors. While forensic collections and examiners are useful to e-discovery vendors, remember that the nature of civil discovery removes the need for forensically sound collections. Each side has to certify that what they're handing over is complete and authentic.

I've found that the e-discovery shops are willing to hire lawyers (especially ones with some e-discovery experience) as project managers. Once there, you can spread out and get your hands dirty.

Many employers(at least in my experience) will find the JD to be an issue. The idea that you are both a techie and a lawyer may be a tough sale.

Good luck.

I could not disagree more if there was disagree in 40 New Times bold and underlined.

You can bet that it's cared about by numerous parties if the collection is forensically sound. Don't believe me?

Go to your boss and say, "ya know, all this forensically sound stuff is just not useful to us and I've decided that it doesn't matter how the evidence was created or collected, we are now going to not follow any rules and whatever is the fastest works for me"

Nanotek-

We've got an almost identical background. I'm doing work for a law firm specializing in infosec right now.

NYC and DC have lots of e-discovery vendors. While forensic collections and examiners are useful to e-discovery vendors, remember that the nature of civil discovery removes the need for forensically sound collections. Each side has to certify that what they're handing over is complete and authentic.

I've found that the e-discovery shops are willing to hire lawyers (especially ones with some e-discovery experience) as project managers. Once there, you can spread out and get your hands dirty.

Many employers(at least in my experience) will find the JD to be an issue. The idea that you are both a techie and a lawyer may be a tough sale.

Good luck.