Litigation & E-Discovery Forensics for Attorneys and Law Firms
When litigation demands digital evidence, every byte matters. Petronella Technology Group delivers forensically sound electronic discovery, court-admissible ESI collection, expert witness testimony, and defensible eDiscovery workflows trusted by attorneys across Raleigh, Durham, RTP, and the Triangle region of North Carolina.
Urgent matter? Speak with a forensic examiner now: 919-348-4912
Digital Evidence Mishandled Is a Case Lost
Attorneys face escalating stakes when electronically stored information becomes central to litigation. Without forensic expertise, critical evidence can be lost, challenged, or excluded—turning a strong case into a sanctions hearing.
Spoliation risks that trigger sanctions. When a litigation hold is triggered, automated deletion policies, routine IT maintenance, and user behavior continue destroying relevant electronically stored information every hour. Without immediate forensic intervention, evidence vanishes before it can be preserved, exposing your client to adverse inference instructions, monetary sanctions, or even default judgment. Courts in North Carolina and federal districts have shown decreasing tolerance for parties who fail to implement timely and effective preservation protocols.
ESI collections that opposing counsel can challenge. Self-collection by custodians or IT departments without forensic oversight produces evidence riddled with defensibility gaps. Missing metadata, broken chain of custody, altered timestamps, and incomplete collections give opposing counsel ammunition to challenge the authenticity and completeness of your production. A single successful challenge can exclude your most compelling evidence or force costly re-collection that delays the entire case timeline.
Overwhelming data volumes with no review strategy. Modern litigation routinely involves terabytes of email, documents, chat messages, cloud data, and mobile device content spread across dozens of custodians and platforms. Without a defensible processing and review workflow powered by technology-assisted review and predictive coding, attorney review costs can spiral into hundreds of thousands of dollars while critical deadlines loom. Proportionality arguments fail when you cannot demonstrate a systematic methodology for managing discovery scope.
No expert to defend your methodology in court. When opposing counsel files a motion challenging your eDiscovery process, you need a qualified forensic expert who can testify to the soundness of your collection methodology, the integrity of your evidence chain, and the reliability of your processing and review workflow. Without an established relationship with a certified digital forensics firm, scrambling for an expert at the eleventh hour weakens your position and signals vulnerability to the court.
Forensically Sound E-Discovery, From Preservation Through Production
Petronella Technology Group provides end-to-end litigation e-discovery forensics services built on more than twenty-two years of digital forensics expertise and a deep understanding of the legal requirements governing electronic evidence. We serve as a seamless extension of your legal team, handling every technical aspect of electronic discovery so attorneys can focus on case strategy and advocacy.
Our approach follows the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) at every stage, from initial information governance and identification through collection, processing, review, analysis, production, and presentation. Every action our forensic examiners take is documented with the level of rigor required to withstand the most aggressive judicial scrutiny. We use write-blocked forensic imaging, cryptographic hash verification, and comprehensive chain of custody protocols that ensure your digital evidence maintains its integrity from the moment we arrive on-site through final testimony in the courtroom.
PTG understands that litigation e-discovery is not simply a technology exercise—it is a legal process with profound strategic implications. The scope of collection can determine whether privileged material is inadvertently produced. The choice of review methodology can affect whether costs are proportional to the case value. The format of production can create advantages or disadvantages for your argument. Our forensic team collaborates closely with lead counsel to make technology decisions that advance your litigation strategy while maintaining strict compliance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Federal Rules of Evidence, and applicable North Carolina rules governing electronic discovery.
Whether you represent a plaintiff pursuing claims in Wake County Superior Court, a defendant responding to a federal subpoena in the Middle District of North Carolina, or a corporate legal department facing a regulatory investigation, PTG delivers the forensic rigor and eDiscovery expertise your case demands. Our forensic lab serves attorneys and law firms throughout Raleigh, Durham, Research Triangle Park, Chapel Hill, and the broader Triangle region, with the capacity to handle matters of any size and complexity.
EDRM-Aligned Forensic Workflow
- 1 Identify & Preserve — Implement litigation holds, map data sources, identify custodians, and deploy forensic preservation to prevent spoliation of relevant ESI across all systems and platforms.
- 2 Collect & Image — Forensically sound ESI collection using write-blocked imaging, API-based cloud extraction, and mobile device acquisition with full chain of custody documentation and hash verification.
- 3 Process & Analyze — De-duplication, de-NISTing, metadata extraction, keyword filtering, date range culling, and technology-assisted review setup to reduce the data universe to relevant, reviewable content.
- 4 Review & Produce — Load processed ESI into review platforms, support attorney document review with TAR and predictive coding, prepare privilege logs, apply redactions, and produce in court-specified formats.
- 5 Report & Testify — Prepare expert declarations and detailed forensic reports, provide deposition support, and deliver expert witness testimony defending methodology and evidence integrity.
E-Discovery Forensic Services Built for the Courtroom
Every service PTG delivers is designed to produce evidence that is defensible, admissible, and strategically valuable to your litigation objectives.
ESI Collection & Preservation
Forensically sound collection of electronically stored information from servers, workstations, laptops, mobile devices, cloud platforms, email systems, and collaboration tools. PTG deploys certified forensic examiners who use write-blocked imaging hardware, validated forensic software, and API-based cloud collection methods to capture every relevant byte without altering the source data. Our preservation protocols include cryptographic hash verification at the point of collection, comprehensive chain of custody documentation, and tamper-evident evidence storage. We handle ESI from Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Slack, Teams, Salesforce, network file shares, databases, backup tapes, and legacy systems—ensuring nothing relevant to your litigation is overlooked or improperly collected.
Forensic Data Processing & Analytics
Advanced eDiscovery processing that transforms raw collected data into a structured, reviewable dataset while maintaining full forensic integrity. PTG performs de-duplication, de-NISTing to remove system files, metadata extraction and normalization, email threading, near-duplicate identification, and keyword and date-range filtering to reduce the data universe to proportional, relevant content. Our processing pipeline generates detailed audit logs documenting every transformation applied, giving you a defensible record that withstands challenges to completeness and methodology. We also perform advanced analytics including concept clustering, communication pattern analysis, and timeline reconstruction to surface the most relevant documents and identify key custodians and communication threads early in the review cycle.
Court-Admissible Evidence Preparation
Rigorous evidence preparation that ensures every piece of digital evidence meets the authentication and admissibility requirements of the Federal Rules of Evidence, North Carolina Rules of Evidence, and applicable case law. PTG creates forensic images verified with both MD5 and SHA-256 hash algorithms, generates bit-for-bit copies that are exact replicas of original source media, and maintains unbroken chain of custody documentation from collection through courtroom presentation. Our forensic examiners prepare declarations and affidavits attesting to the integrity of evidence handling, and can authenticate digital evidence including emails, documents, metadata, internet browsing history, deleted file recovery, and device usage patterns for introduction at trial or in support of dispositive motions.
Expert Witness Testimony
Qualified digital forensics expert witnesses who provide clear, authoritative testimony in depositions, hearings, and trials across North Carolina state courts, federal courts, and administrative proceedings. PTG's forensic experts have testified on matters including data breach causation, evidence spoliation, digital evidence authenticity, computer fraud and unauthorized access, intellectual property theft, eDiscovery methodology disputes, and the reconstruction of digital timelines. Our experts prepare comprehensive reports meeting Daubert and Rule 702 standards, participate in pre-trial preparation sessions with lead counsel, and deliver testimony that translates complex technical concepts into language accessible to judges and juries. We also provide rebuttal expert analysis when opposing party experts present flawed forensic conclusions.
Technology-Assisted Review & Production
Intelligent document review solutions that dramatically reduce attorney review costs while improving accuracy and defensibility. PTG implements technology-assisted review (TAR) and predictive coding workflows validated by courts including Judge Peck's landmark decisions in Da Silva Moore and Rio Tinto. Our TAR protocols include seed set selection, iterative training rounds, quality control sampling, and statistical validation that demonstrates the reliability of machine-learning classifications. We prepare production sets in any court-ordered or agreed-upon format including native files, TIFF or PDF with load files, and Concordance or Relativity-compatible outputs. Privilege log generation, redaction application, and Bates numbering are handled with precision and full audit trails.
Mobile & Cloud Forensics for Litigation
Specialized forensic acquisition of mobile devices and cloud platforms that captures evidence increasingly central to modern litigation. PTG performs full physical and logical acquisitions from iOS and Android devices, recovering active data, deleted content, application artifacts, location history, call logs, text messages, encrypted messaging app data, and social media activity. For cloud-based ESI, we execute targeted collections from Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Salesforce, AWS, Azure, Dropbox, Box, Slack, and other SaaS platforms using authenticated API connections that preserve complete metadata and maintain forensic defensibility. Our mobile and cloud forensic capabilities are critical for employment disputes, trade secret cases, harassment claims, and any litigation where personal device and cloud account activity constitutes key evidence.
Trusted by Attorneys and Law Firms Across North Carolina
Ready to see what PTG can do for your business? Schedule a free consultation and join the businesses across the Triangle that trust us with their technology.
919-348-4912Comprehensive Forensic & Legal Support Ecosystem
PTG's litigation e-discovery forensics integrates with our broader digital forensics, expert witness, and cybersecurity capabilities to provide complete support for attorneys and legal teams across North Carolina.
Data Breach Forensics
Incident response and forensic investigation for data breaches, ransomware, and security events.
Digital Forensics
Comprehensive computer, mobile device, and network forensic examination and analysis services.
Expert Witness Services
Certified digital forensics expert witness testimony for NC state courts and federal proceedings.
Cybersecurity for Law Firms
Comprehensive cybersecurity services protecting attorney-client privilege and firm data assets.
Schedule a Consultation
Discuss your litigation e-discovery needs with PTG's forensic team directly.
PTG's litigation e-discovery forensics services support attorneys handling commercial disputes requiring comprehensive email and document discovery, employment litigation involving workplace communications and mobile device evidence, intellectual property cases demanding forensic analysis of trade secret theft and unauthorized data transfers, healthcare litigation governed by HIPAA and patient data regulations, government investigations requiring rigorous chain of custody documentation, and family law matters where digital evidence from devices and social media proves critical. Our forensic expertise extends across every practice area where digital evidence intersects with legal proceedings in North Carolina and beyond.
The Difference Between IT Support and Forensic Excellence
Litigation demands evidence that is beyond reproach. PTG brings the technical depth, legal awareness, and courtroom experience that separates forensic professionals from general IT service providers. Here is why attorneys across the Triangle choose PTG:
- 22+ years of forensic investigation experience—Over two decades of hands-on digital forensics and eDiscovery work spanning civil litigation, criminal defense support, regulatory investigations, and internal corporate inquiries across Raleigh, Durham, RTP, and all of North Carolina.
- Certified forensic examiners with courtroom experience—Through our partner network, PTG engagements have access to professionals holding ACE, GCFE, CCE, and other industry-recognized certifications. Our experts have provided testimony in North Carolina state courts, federal district courts, and administrative proceedings, with a track record of evidence being admitted without challenge.
- EDRM-compliant defensible workflows—Every engagement follows documented, repeatable processes aligned with the Electronic Discovery Reference Model and current case law. Our methodology has withstood challenges under Daubert, Zubulake, and the proportionality standards of the 2015 FRCP amendments.
- Complete chain of custody from collection to courtroom—Write-blocked forensic imaging, dual-hash verification (MD5 and SHA-256), tamper-evident evidence packaging, secure evidence storage, and comprehensive documentation that creates an unbroken evidentiary chain for every piece of ESI we handle.
- Emergency 24-hour response for preservation emergencies—When litigation hold obligations demand immediate action, PTG deploys forensic examiners within 24 hours for Triangle-area engagements and 48 hours for the broader Southeast, preventing spoliation and protecting your client's position.
- Technology-agnostic platform expertise—We work with every major eDiscovery platform including Relativity, Nuix, EnCase, Cellebrite, Magnet AXIOM, X-Ways, FTK, and others. We select the right tools for each engagement rather than forcing every case through a single platform.
Trade Secret Theft: 14 Terabytes, 23 Custodians, Zero Sanctions
A Research Triangle Park technology company retained outside counsel to pursue claims against a former executive who allegedly exfiltrated proprietary source code and customer data before departing to a competitor. The matter involved 23 custodians, 14 terabytes of ESI across on-premises servers, Office 365, personal devices, and cloud storage accounts, with a production deadline of 60 days imposed by the court.
PTG executed forensic collections from all custodial sources within 10 days, implemented a TAR workflow that reduced the review population by 78%, and produced 340,000 documents in native and TIFF formats with full metadata and Bates numbering. When the defendant challenged the completeness of production and moved for sanctions, PTG's expert testified to every step of the collection and processing methodology. The motion was denied in its entirety.
Litigation E-Discovery Questions Answered
Get answers to the most common questions about PTG's litigation e-discovery forensics services for attorneys and law firms in the Triangle and across North Carolina.
Litigation e-discovery forensics is the specialized process of identifying, collecting, preserving, processing, reviewing, and producing electronically stored information (ESI) for use in legal proceedings. You need e-discovery forensics whenever your organization or client faces civil litigation, regulatory investigations, internal investigations, employment disputes, intellectual property claims, or any legal matter where digital evidence is relevant. PTG provides these services to law firms and businesses across Raleigh, Durham, Research Triangle Park, and North Carolina, ensuring all digital evidence is handled in a forensically sound, court-admissible manner that withstands judicial scrutiny.
PTG collects and preserves virtually every type of electronically stored information relevant to litigation. This includes emails and email attachments from Exchange, Office 365, and Gmail environments; documents stored on local drives, network shares, and cloud platforms such as SharePoint, OneDrive, Google Drive, and Dropbox; text messages and chat logs from SMS, iMessage, Microsoft Teams, Slack, and other collaboration platforms; social media content and metadata; database records; financial system data; voicemail recordings; GPS and geolocation data; security camera footage; server logs and system event records; deleted files recovered through forensic imaging; and mobile device content from smartphones and tablets. Our certified forensic examiners use industry-standard tools and validated methodologies to ensure every piece of ESI is collected with a defensible chain of custody.
PTG follows rigorous forensic protocols aligned with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE), and established case law governing electronic discovery. Our process includes forensic imaging using write-blockers to prevent data alteration, cryptographic hash verification (MD5 and SHA-256) to prove evidence integrity, comprehensive chain of custody documentation from collection through production, defensible processing and review workflows using industry-standard eDiscovery platforms, and detailed expert reports documenting every step of our methodology. Through our partner network, our forensic engagements have access to professionals holding certifications including ACE, GCFE, and CCE, and are prepared to provide expert witness testimony defending the integrity of digital evidence in North Carolina state courts, federal courts, and arbitration proceedings.
Yes. PTG provides qualified expert witness testimony for litigation involving digital forensics and electronic discovery. Our forensic experts have testified in North Carolina state courts, federal district courts, and administrative proceedings on matters including data breach causation, digital evidence authenticity, computer fraud investigations, intellectual property theft, spoliation of evidence, and eDiscovery methodology. We prepare comprehensive expert reports, assist with deposition preparation, and deliver clear, compelling testimony that explains complex technical concepts to judges and juries in accessible terms. Our experts meet Daubert and North Carolina Rule 702 standards for admissibility of expert testimony.
A defensible eDiscovery workflow is a documented, repeatable process for handling electronically stored information that can withstand legal challenges regarding its completeness, accuracy, and integrity. It matters because courts increasingly impose sanctions, adverse inference instructions, and monetary penalties on parties who fail to properly preserve and produce digital evidence. PTG builds defensible workflows based on the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM), incorporating legal hold management, custodian identification and interviewing, proportional collection methodologies, processing with full audit trails, technology-assisted review (TAR) for document review, and production in court-specified formats. A defensible workflow protects your client or organization from spoliation claims, motion to compel disputes, and sanctions that can fundamentally alter case outcomes.
PTG provides emergency response for urgent litigation holds and ESI preservation within 24 hours for clients in the Raleigh, Durham, and Triangle area, and within 48 hours for engagements elsewhere in North Carolina and the southeastern United States. When a litigation hold is triggered by anticipated or pending litigation, time is critical because ongoing data deletion, automated retention policies, and routine system maintenance can destroy relevant evidence. PTG immediately deploys forensic examiners to issue preservation directives, suspend automated deletion processes, create forensic images of critical systems, and begin targeted ESI collection. Our rapid response capabilities have helped numerous law firms and corporate legal departments avoid spoliation sanctions by preserving evidence before it could be lost or altered.
The cost of litigation e-discovery forensics varies based on the volume of data involved, the number of custodians, the complexity of the technical environment, the types of ESI being collected, and the scope of processing and review required. PTG provides transparent, itemized pricing with no hidden fees. We offer per-gigabyte processing rates, hourly forensic examination rates, and fixed-fee engagement options for predictable budgeting. For smaller matters, costs may range from several thousand dollars, while large-scale multi-custodian collections and reviews for complex litigation can reach significantly higher. We work closely with attorneys to develop proportional eDiscovery strategies that control costs while meeting discovery obligations. Contact PTG at 919-348-4912 for a detailed scope assessment and cost estimate for your specific matter.
Absolutely. Cloud platforms and mobile devices represent a growing percentage of relevant ESI in modern litigation, and PTG has extensive capabilities in both areas. For cloud environments, we perform forensic collections from Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Salesforce, AWS, Azure, Dropbox, Box, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and dozens of other SaaS and IaaS platforms using API-based collection methods that preserve metadata and maintain chain of custody. For mobile devices, our certified examiners perform forensic acquisitions from iOS and Android devices, recovering active data, deleted content, application data, location history, and communication records. We use industry-leading mobile forensic tools including Cellebrite, GrayKey, and Magnet AXIOM to ensure comprehensive data extraction that meets court admissibility standards.
PTG serves as a trusted forensic and eDiscovery partner to attorneys throughout the entire discovery lifecycle. During the initial phase, we assist with preservation planning, custodian identification, and data mapping to develop a proportional discovery strategy. We then perform forensic collection of ESI from all relevant sources, process and de-duplicate the data, and load it into review platforms for attorney analysis. Our team provides technology-assisted review (TAR) and predictive coding guidance to reduce review costs and accelerate timelines. We prepare privilege logs, redaction workflows, and production sets in the formats required by opposing counsel or the court. Throughout the process, our forensic experts are available for meet-and-confer support, providing technical guidance that helps attorneys negotiate discovery scope and resolve disputes. We also prepare expert declarations and reports, and testify when the methodology or integrity of digital evidence is challenged.
PTG has experience managing eDiscovery matters that span multiple jurisdictions, including cases involving data stored in foreign countries subject to privacy regulations such as the European Union's GDPR, the United Kingdom's Data Protection Act, and other international data protection frameworks. We work with legal teams to develop collection strategies that comply with both U.S. discovery obligations and foreign data transfer restrictions, utilizing mechanisms such as Standard Contractual Clauses, data processing agreements, and in-country review when required. For multi-jurisdictional domestic matters, we coordinate collections across different state and federal court requirements, ensuring consistent methodology regardless of venue. Our team manages the complex logistics of collecting from geographically dispersed custodians and data sources while maintaining a unified chain of custody and consistent processing standards that satisfy the most demanding judicial scrutiny.
Need Forensically Sound E-Discovery for Your Litigation?
Contact Petronella Technology Group for a confidential consultation about your litigation e-discovery forensics needs. Whether you are facing an imminent preservation deadline, planning discovery for a complex multi-party case, or need a qualified expert witness, our certified forensic team is ready to support your matter. Serving attorneys and law firms across Raleigh, Durham, RTP, Chapel Hill, and all of North Carolina with 22+ years of forensic excellence and zero evidence integrity failures.
Urgent preservation matter? Call us directly at 919-348-4912