Crime Scene Evidence in Civil Litigation: A Litigator’s Guide to Preservation, Forensic Collection, Common Pitfalls, and Expert Support

Jake Green | Envista Forensics

Jake Green is the Technical Operations Manager of Digital Forensics at Envista Forensics, based in the company’s Raleigh, North Carolina lab.

After graduating from Appalachian State University in 2005, Jake began his career as a Police Officer with the Rock Hill Police Department in South Carolina. His early focus on traffic enforcement and accident investigations quickly showcased his keen attention to detail and investigative acumen. Recognized as an expert in collision reconstruction, he received multiple commendations, earned promotions, and served as a Forensic Investigator and Detective.

Jake’s interest in digital forensics began in 2011, when he was assigned to a county-wide crime scene and forensics task force. He quickly developed expertise in mobile forensics, which became a significant focus of his investigative work. This led to responsibilities involving the identification, collection, preservation, analysis, and presentation of digital evidence.

In May 2014, Jake was sworn in as a Special Deputy United States Marshal and joined the U.S. Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force (USSS ECTF). He trained at the National Computer Forensics Institute (NCFI) in Hoover, Alabama. From the Rock Hill Police Department’s modest lab, he built a reputation for delivering high-quality forensic work and providing around-the-clock support to over 20 local, state, and federal agencies across the Carolinas. At its peak, his lab was considered one of the busiest single-examiner forensic facilities in the country.

Since joining Envista Forensics in 2016, Jake has worked with a wide range of clients, including defense attorneys, prosecutors, civil litigators, insurance companies, businesses, and private individuals. While his experience spans a variety of digital investigations, his passion lies in supporting criminal defense work.

To date, Jake has testified as an expert witness in 43 cases in local, state, federal, and military courts across the U.S. His specialties include digital forensics, computer and mobile device forensics, cryptocurrency investigations, call detail record analysis, and location data interpretation, particularly involving Google Location Services. Notably, he has contributed to high-profile cases such as Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Aaron Hernandez and numerous capital murder trials.

Neama Rahmani | West Coast Trial Lawyers

Neama Rahmani is a nationally recognized attorney and the President and Co-Founder of West Coast Trial Lawyers, a leading firm with offices in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Washington. With more than 20 years of experience in both civil and criminal litigation, Rahmani has built a reputation for handling high-stakes cases and representing some of the world’s most recognized celebrities, athletes, and high-profile figures.

Rahmani graduated from UCLA at the age of 19 and from Harvard Law School at 22, making him one of the youngest graduates in the school’s 200-year history. Upon graduation, he joined O’Melveny & Myers, one of Los Angeles’s most prestigious law firms, where he represented major clients including Disney, Marriott, and the Roman Catholic Church.

Rahmani sought to help ordinary people rather than corporations, so he joined the Department of Justice as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, prosecuting drug and human trafficking cases along the United States–Mexico border. While serving as a federal prosecutor, Rahmani successfully prosecuted a fugitive murderer and drug kingpin featured on America’s Most Wanted and sent more than 1,000 criminals to prison. He was later appointed Director of Enforcement for the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission, where he oversaw and investigated elected officials and high-level city employees, including the Mayor and City Council members. During his time at the Department of Justice, Rahmani never lost a case. He held that position until founding West Coast Trial Lawyers in 2014 with former O’Melveny colleague Allen Patatanyan. Since then, they have grown the firm to more than 25 attorneys and approximately 200 non-lawyer support staff.

Rahmani has extensive trial experience leading teams of attorneys against the largest companies in the world. He has successfully tried dozens of cases to jury verdict as lead trial counsel and has argued and won before state and federal appeals courts. Over the course of his career, Rahmani has handled thousands of civil cases, obtaining many seven and eight-figure settlements and judgments, and has helped his clients win more than $1.7 billion.

In his memoir, Harvard to Hashtag: My Journey from Big Law to Business Owner, Rahmani openly acknowledges that he once craved prestige as he reflects on the unexpected turn of events that led him away from the judgeship he once envisioned and toward becoming president of his own personal injury and employment law firm – one dedicated to helping those who can’t help themselves and to battling the “evil empire” of insurance companies and unethical corporations.

Rahmani is regularly sought out by the media for his legal expertise, appearing on ABC News, BBC, CNN, Fox News, and other major outlets, and is frequently quoted in publications such as The Washington Post, The Independent, The Guardian, USA Today, The New York Times, The Associated Press, Reuters, and more.

Matt Jackson | Sidley Austin LLP

Matt Jackson brings 20 years of experience to his practice focusing on complex electronic discovery matters and all aspects of the Electronic Discovery Reference Model. Matt regularly advises Fortune 100 clients regarding best practices on information management, preservation, discovery-readiness solutions, defensible deletion and developments at the critical intersection of law and technology. Matt emphasizes a holistic approach to data management for investigations and litigation, including ways to leverage institutional knowledge across matters and defensible but practical solutions to data issues, such as the application of AI and Advanced Analytics.

Matt has worked on numerous large-scale matters, including DOJ second requests and regulator driven investigations, class actions and commercial disputes in highly regulated industries, such as energy, financial services and life sciences. These matters often involve the production of hundreds of millions of pages of documents and the management of hundreds of terabytes of data. He is a Co-Leader of Sidley’s e-Discovery Group and a published author and speaker on eDiscovery issues.

Matt has been recognized by Chambers USA for Nationwide E-Discovery & Information Governance (2025), where he is described as an “expert in e-discovery, is highly intelligible, able to bring efficiency and cost saving to processes, and can see all angles and perspectives.” “Matt has a keen understanding of the business impact of e-discovery decisions and provides pragmatic, forward-thinking advice that aligns legal strategy with broader corporate goals.” Chambers USA 2025.

Matt previously served as counsel at Sidley from 2006 to 2014. Prior to rejoining the firm, he worked as a Managing Director at a legal operations and compliance consulting firm.

Matt graduated from the DePaul University College of Law where he teaches a course on eDiscovery as an adjunct professor. He also earned his B.S. in finance and business administration from DePaul University.

Scott Pearson | Sidley Austin LLP

Scott Pearson is the Data Collection Lead at Sidley Austin, where he works closely with Project Managers and Sidley legal teams to conduct forensic collections from complex data sources in support of ongoing litigation matters. With over two decades of experience in digital forensics, incident response, and cyber investigations, he has developed and implemented strategies for the secure acquisition and analysis of Electronically Stored Information (ESI) from diverse environments, including cloud repositories, enterprise collaboration platforms, network file servers, traditional computer systems, and mobile devices.

Before joining Sidley, Scott served as Director of Digital Forensics for one of the leading litigation support service providers in Wilmington, Delaware, supporting matters tried in the Delaware Court of Chancery, U.S. District Court, and the Southern District of New York, among others. He also worked as a Senior DFIR Consultant with the U.S. Department of State’s Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program, where he equipped forensic laboratories on behalf of the U.S. Government and designed and delivered advanced training in digital forensics, incident response, and cybersecurity to law enforcement and military analysts worldwide. In addition, he mentored cyber investigation and high-tech crime units worldwide to enhance their digital forensic readiness and operational capabilities.

Scott also served as a lead instructor at the U.S. Secret Service National Computer Forensic Institute in Hoover, Alabama, where he certified digital forensic examiners from law enforcement agencies across the United States.

He holds a Master of Science in Cybersecurity from the University of Delaware and is a Certified Forensic Computer Examiner (IACIS). His leadership reflects a blend of deep technical expertise and a strong commitment to advancing global cyber resilience and digital evidence integrity.

Session I – Digital Forensics in Civil Investigations: Preserving, Analyzing, and Presenting Electronic Evidence | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

• Proper evidence preservation, through isolation, documentation, and chain of custody, is essential for maintaining data integrity
• Forensic tools and acquisition techniques allow accurate, verifiable analysis of digital evidence in civil disputes
• Qualified forensic experts bridge the gap between technology and law, ensuring reliable and admissible findings in court

Break | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

Session II – Crime Scene Evidence in Civil Litigation: Digital Evidence Focus | 2:10pm – 3:10pm

• Legal and procedural issues
  • Legal framework synopsis
    1. Federal rules of evidence (authentication, expert testimony)
    2. Federal rules of civil procedure (esp. 26 and 37(e) on eDiscovery and spoliation)
    3. Daubert/Frye standards and proportionality principles regulate the collection and use of digital evidence
    4. Ethical obligations for lawyers of technical competence
  • Preservation duties and spoliation traps
  • Chain of custody and authentication considerations
• Practical lessons and case applications
  • Illustrative civil scenarios
    1. Fraud and insurance disputes exposed through file metadata analysis
    2. Employment and IP theft cases proven via recovered or deleted files
    3. Data-breach and cybersecurity suits supported by log and network analysis
  • Civil litigator takeaways
    1. Engage forensic experts early
    2. Enforce litigation-hold protocols
    3. Ensure case teams are trained on digital-evidence handling
  • Common missteps
    1. Relying on internal IT staff
    2. Overlooking metadata
    3. Mishandling collection data
• Emerging technologies and challenges
  • AI and automation in forensic review
    1. Pattern recognition
    2. Large-dataset triage, and related ethical concerns
  • New evidence sources
    1. IoT devices
    2. Encrypted messaging
    3. Ephemeral data
    4. Cross-border privacy limits (i.e. GDPR, CCPA, etc.)
    5. Agentic AI/Gen AI data generation