Why MidwestComputer Forensics - Criminal & Civil Uses
Computer forensics uses many special techniques and skills to perform computer forensics examinations, in order to obtain evidence, so they can present this information to the appropriate people and testify in court when necessary. From the original information they acquired, expertise is needed to analyze the information, create exact duplicates along with verifying the data retrieved. Computer forensics investigators must do this without modifying the original media retrieved. On all investigations they go on, computer forensics investigators must devise or possess the expertise to retrieve the necessary or requested information. He or she then uses their skill, tools and knowledge to examine and analyze the data.
A computer forensics investigator must possess a great deal of patience as retrieving information from a computer involved in a crime is very time consuming and tedious, as they search for and analyze data. Many computer forensics investigators working for the Local Police Department continue to pursue a career in teaching computer forensics or computer crime prevention.
Common work activities include:
- Reviewing information on various computer related evidence taken from various crime scenes or believed to contain evidence of criminal activity.
- Taking the various computers and accessing hard drives, memory and other components for examination using specialized computer equipment to locate data.
- Restoring damaged or erased computer hard drives to attempt to gather evidence or information.
- Writing reports including chain of evidence forms, evidence logs and entering data into various computer programs for access by investigating officers.
- Attending various meetings with the department to educate and train other officers in how to obtain and handle computer equipment as evidence.
- Preparing for court appearances and testifying in court when necessary.
Trial ‘Better Safe Than Sorry’ Staffing
You’ve just packed up your boxes and shipped them to your hotel for trial. Your suitcase is packed and you are ready to go. Don’t you wish you had someone you could count on to receive the boxes and organize the hotel’s conference room as your war room? What about someone to give you a hand with coordination of experts’ travel, room reservations, transportation to and from the hotel or court? Have you even been in the courtroom and needed color copies or needed to call a witness to tell them they are scheduled to testify earlier than anticipated? Midwest can help!
We have experienced paralegals on staff to accompany you at trial and help you with whatever last-minute needs arise such as running errands, picking up supplies, ordering food, organizing and reorganizing a war room, gathering exhibits to be used with witnesses, and coordination and transportation of witnesses. We can also assist in the courtroom with keeping track of and transporting supplies back and forth between trial and your hotel, gathering and organizing exhibits, observing the trial, keeping track of exhibits offered/admitted and taking notes of things you don’t have a chance to see( i.e. opposing side’s and jury’s reactions). We have staff experienced in TrialDirector and the only certified trainers in the State of Wisconsin. There are many details that can bog you down during trial. Wouldn’t it be great to have someone free up your time so you can deal with the important case-specific details?
When it’s time to pack up those boxes and ship them back to the office, we can do that too! Call Midwest Paralegal Services for more information on how we can assist with your next trial.
SAN Upgrade 
Midwest Paralegal has just tripled their data storage capabilities! We purchased a 12 Terabyte SAN (Storage Area Network). This will give us the ability to process extremely large data sets at a much faster rate. The SAN consists of HP Hardware and Left Hand Software. This system also gives us the ability to add storage on the fly with no downtime. Although the complexity of SANs have been dropping; they are still very uncommon outside the very large enterprises. We thought the purchase was necessary to better serve our clients.
Medical Records Summarized &
Then Scanned -at Half Price!
Midwest can take your medical records and summarize them into a standardized format that Midwest provides. Along with that service, Midwest Imaging will scan the documents at a rate of $.07/page, HALF the standard, heavy processing price. The images can be provided in TIF or PDF with the appropriate software load files.
An estimate can be provided of the cost to summarize based on a review of the volume. Turnaround times depend on current work load status. All work is completed by an experienced, trained paralegal.
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Windows XP Forensics 
Rick Stieghorst just finished three days of training on Computer forensics for Windows XP with Access Data. This online, interactive course packs an extreme amount of information in three days. Included in the course curriculum: Searching with Fuzzy Logic, Creating Regular Expressions for Searching, Mastering the Ins and Outs of the XP Registry Files, Advanced Password Cracking, Specific Uses and Ways to Look at Thumb db files, OLE Metadata, Recycle Bin INFO2 Files and much more. These elements are places that Microsoft uses to store information and can be extremely valuable in finding data that may lead to documents or prove that data has been changed.
Access Data is a leader in forensic software and a pioneer in the industry. Midwest uses the Forensic Toolkit® (FTK®) which is recognized around the world as the standard in computer forensic investigation technology.
Congratulations to Karen (Madison Office) and Carl Johnson on the arrival of their new baby, Samantha Marie Johnson. Born 06-03-2009 10:49 a.m. Weight 7lbs 8oz, Length 21 inches.
Midwest extends a welcome to Grant Witte for the Summer. Grant will be handling deliveries and other miscellaneous assignments as needed.
Midwest is excited to announce the addition of Jackie Barribeau to the staff. As the Legal Solutioins Advisor, Jackie will provide in-house sales and service resources.
Shawn Olley will be speaking at the Racine County Bar Association meeting on September 14th located at Red Onion Cafe in the Johnson building. The topic will be “Technology and the Law.”
Midwest has installed added security to its Oak Creek Facility to provide taped camera and remote lock release systems on all access doors.
Oak Creek Medical and Occupational LLC has leased space in the Oak Creek facility since April 2006. The 1,500 sf that was occupied is now available for renting as of August 1, 2009. The space includes three private offices and its own kitchenette and private restrooms. Contact Ken Olley if you are interested. kolley@midwestparalegal.com
Midwest has transferred its mail service to a hosted exchange as of July 2009. The newest version will allow better collaboration among the Midwest offices and related calendars.
Midwest has created a two hour version of the TrialDirector training for those that need a shorter version of the courtroom presentation software. Contact Roland Johnson at rjohnson@midwestparlegal.com to set up the training.
Look for the article by Shawn Olley in the upcoming VERDICT, Setting a Protocol for eDiscovery Management…. And Following It!
