In our Seat with an Expert video series, A&M Disputes and Investigations practitioners highlight key trends and developments in global disputes, investigations and compliance, forensic technology, and cybersecurity and provide expert analysis and insights into key issues affecting companies worldwide. 

In this video, Managing Director Jonathan Marshall shares his expertise on the latest trends in forensic technology and provides key insights into how AI technologies could impact disputes and investigations in the future.

• What’s the most common trend you are seeing in forensic technology?  
• How will new AI technology influence the forensic technology industry?  

*Chambers and Partners recognized Alvarez & Marsal in Band 2 of the 2023 eDiscovery (USA) guide.

Transcript:

What’s the most common trend you are seeing in forensic technology?  

The trend I’m seeing the most in Forensic Technology is the rise and diversity of data we are faced with daily on the projects we work on. Data is coming out of non-traditional sources more and more, really every project we work on has a bit more nuance to it. As a result, we need to bring together a lot of different talents to the table in order to properly do our work.  

It takes digital forensics expertise to make sure when we are collecting information, that we do it soundly and that it accurately reflects how the data was held in the normal course of business. We often need really expert folks that understand how this data works as well. The backend systems of it – whether it is a SQL database or similar underpinning it or a different kind of language our folks really need to understand that, extract that information out, and then transform it in a way that Legal teams can review it, make sense of it, and produce it to opposing parties if necessary and or to regulators, in a way that makes sense to them as well. And so, we need to not only collect and process like we have done for years, but we actually need to invent new processes all the time to do this and to make sure they can stand up to the rigor of an investigation or court proceeding. 

How will new AI technology influence the forensic technology industry?  

Emerging AI technologies will certainly have an effect on our industry, but I don’t think in the most obvious way. We for a long time have used AI and machine learning technologies to get through large chunks of information. I’m sure the newer technologies will be used in a similar way, but not to totally eliminate the need for humans to be involved in figuring out what information is relevant and which information is privileged. I think how we will actually see the technology affect our space is in the underlying disputes and investigations that we work on will have some AI technology at its core be at the issue – whether it be the legal use of that product for whatever business use it may be, or for using it for some sort of fraud scheme. And so, our folks will need to be able to extract information from those platforms or the way they are used and help the parties involved make sense of them.