Even just a few years ago, lawyers in corporate lawsuits sometimes agreed not to poke around in their opponents e-mails. Instead they would confine themselves to paper memos and other documents on file as they pursued evidence.

Now, however, with so much work done via e-mail, instant messaging and other online platforms, nothings in the file cabinets anymore, said Michele Lange, staff attorney for legal technologies at Kroll Ontrack Inc.

Instead, the memos, presentations and other scraps of corporate intelligence are increasingly finding their way into vast electronic discovery centers like the one Kroll Ontrack operates here near Minneapolis.

Day and night, rows of whirring, blinking computers sock away enormous batches of digital records sent by companies involved in lawsuits. Other files are discovered deep in hard drives - wedged between everything from personal e-mails to pornography - by Kroll Ontrack forensic teams whose code names keep their missions secret.

Continue reading courtesy of ap.org