Expert Witness Service


An Expert witness is an individual that assists the court to fully understand and test complex evidence produced by either the prosecution or defence.  A true expert must be qualified in their field and possess sufficient experience to be accepted by the court as a competent Expert.

At Computer Forensics Online, all of our Expert investigators have undergone extensive training in Computer Forensics.  They also possess courtroom experience in both prosecution, defence and civil scenarios (such as tribunals and disciplinary hearings).

Our principal Expert has attended court on many occasions and has produced hundreds of Expert reports that have been accepted and used as evidence at court.

Please contact us, should you need the services of our Experts - we offer a full range of services in this area that include;
 
Review of case papers:


Matters involving computer crime commonly have a form of Expert report or other technical documentation associated with them.  It is critical that this information is reviewed and translated into layman's terms, allowing all persons involved in the matter to fully understand the evidence presented.

Such reviews can be fast-tracked through our system, allowing you to quickly obtain an accurate quotation for submission to the Legal Services Commission, your client or other entity.  Such reviews usually require 1-4 hours, depending on the quantity of papers submitted for review.
 
Verification of Expert or Police Investigator evidence:


One of our most requested services from both the private and legal sectors is verification of existing computer evidence (usually held by a law-enforcement agency, a Corporate entity or a private individual).

This service involves us replicating the steps taken by either a Police Expert (in criminal matters) or an independent Forensic Expert (in corporate or civil (private) matters).  Replication of the actions of the said Expert allows you to be confident that the evidence being relied upon is accurate and true.

Areas most likely to yield discrepancies or deficiencies are those relating to evidential continuity and the adherence to best practice during analysis and handling of the evidence.

Verification of the evidence put against your client, yourself or your employee is of paramount importance and should be the first step in ascertaining its integrity and admissibility in subsequent proceedings.

Please feel free to contact us to discuss our verification services, we would be happy to provide you with free initial Expert advice.
 
Rebutting other Experts reports:


In our experience it is becoming increasingly common to find serious inaccuracies, omissions and typographical errors in Expert reports that we are asked to review.  This is a worrying trend that appears to be gaining momentum year-on-year.  The employment of under qualified and inexperienced analysts, purporting to be Experts is, in our opinion the primary reason such issues are being observed.  The underlying catalyst in this equation is the fact that the demand for competent Computer Forensic Experts continues to outstrip supply throughout the industry.

A rebuttal report is a powerful tool for highlighting the aforementioned areas within any given Experts report.  This type of report is most useful when an opposition Expert has offered an opinion in relation to the evidence, which may be highly influential to either the court or other entity.  In such circumstances our independent  second opinion can prove to be invaluable!.

If you are currently dealing with a case involving a Computer Forensics Expert or a Police Investigator, click here to contact us today.
 
Meeting of Experts:


Often after a review of papers, the submission of our Experts Verification Report (see above) or the production of a rebuttal leads to a standoff between experts.

A meeting of Experts allows both the defence and prosecution Experts to meet and discuss each others findings in a mildly informal manner.  The purpose of such a discussion is to resolve as many differences of opinion as possible, reducing the points of contention that will be ultimately put to the court.

This process in our experience is extremely valuable and keeps the court and jury focussed on the evidence at hand, as opposed to being distracted by a disagreement between two Experts in open court.
 
Attending Court or other event as an Expert:


This is one of the final tasks our expert carries out in relation to assisting you with any matter.  Our Expert, if required, will accompany you to the Court or other event (such as a tribunal or other hearing).  They would then advise and comment upon the evidence being presented by the opposition or other individuals throughout proceedings.

It is unusual for our Experts to be required to relay their own Expert evidence to the court. 

All of our reports are written in layman's terms wherever possible - the evidence we produces is very easy to understand and commonly accepted by the opposition after verification by their own Expert.

If you are dealing with a matter described above, contact us today to discuss how we may assist you further.  We have the ability to provide an Expert at short notice.