Computer Forensics Inc. Introduces CFI Professional Education Group; Pioneers in Data Discovery Launch New Division to Provide Interactive Instruction for Legal Professionals.

SEATTLE -- Computer Forensics Inc.(TM) (CFI), a leading provider of computer discovery services, has launched a new professional education group to teach legal professionals about technical issues, challenges and timing factors involved with digital data discovery for litigation.

The company has established a reputation for its insightful seminars and client presentations regarding the fundamentals of computer-based discovery. CFI's senior executives have spoken at leading industry conferences all over the world and the company's founder and president, Joan Feldman, is the author of "Essentials of Electronic Discovery," a highly regarded textbook in the field.

According to Ms. Feldman, CFI's successful Data Discovery Boot Camp program was the impetus behind the creation of its new CFI Professional Education Group. Many litigators attending the Computer Forensics Inc. Boot Camps found the training to be absolutely essential to their practices and encouraged the company to expand its efforts to provide hands-on instruction in the fundamentals of computer-based discovery.

"Attorneys who take advantage of this program will be equipped to save their clients thousands of dollars by learning how to avoid costly discovery motion practices and by using computer discovery planning tools to minimize the amount of data gathered and processed," said Ms. Feldman. "Moreover, armed with the practical instruction they will receive, our participants will be better able to formulate reasonable discovery requests and more successfully challenge unreasonable ones."

"This program is absolutely necessary training for all litigators," said Brian DeSoto, an attorney in the Seattle-based law firm of Foster Pepper & Shefelman, referring to a recent Data Discovery Boot Camp. Donna Munyer, a legal assistant with the Phoenix-based law firm of Snell & Wilmer, affirmed that "this is the best e-discovery seminar I have attended, with a great mix of technical and legal case law." Another boot camp attendee, Liz Kranz, an attorney with the Law Offices of Greg Murphy, stated that the program provided "good applications to real world solutions, with a beautiful presentation of materials."

According to Ms. Feldman, the boot camps are not product-oriented clinics, but rather focus on practical concerns, such as: demonstrations of the processes and tools used by computer discovery experts during data collections; how to examine drives for deleted files and find hidden data; the steps involved in backup tape restoration; an evaluation of the time and expense associated with different types of data collection and review; and the threshold questions to ask before undertaking a data discovery task.

"For the past decade, CFI has been at the forefront of the electronic discovery process, helping counsel and the courts to better understand the issues surrounding digital data with prudent and reasonable advice," said Ms. Feldman. "This new initiative is a natural extension of that core competency, offering us a clear platform from which to deliver our expertise in the form of professional education programs and instructional seminars."

According to Ms. Feldman, the newly formed group will consist of herself and five other senior members of the Computer Forensics team, including a number of former law enforcement professionals with special expertise in computer-based discovery for litigation. The company is certified to provide Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits for its programs in most states.

"We believe this new team will fill a specific need in the marketplace for hands-on instruction in the fundamentals of digital data discovery," said Ms. Feldman. "Our programs will provide attendees with an intensive educational experience, working one-on-one with some of the leading thinkers in the field."

The next official program scheduled by the new professional education group at Computer Forensics Inc. will take place on April 7th and 8th in Seattle (10.25 CLE credits in Washington). Additional Boot Camps will be scheduled throughout 2005.

The cost for each Boot Camp is $995 per person, which includes one-and-a-half days of hands-on instruction, an Electronic Discovery Primer, with an extensive glossary and other reference materials. For more details or to register, contact David Stenhouse, vice president and director of operations at Computer Forensics, at 206-324-6232.

Founded by world-renowned cybersleuth Joan Feldman, Computer Forensics Inc. pioneered the fields of electronic media discovery and electronic risk control in the 1990s, with lawyers relying upon the company's full-time, certified forensic, discovery and testifying experts for everything from tape restoration to hard drive imaging and analysis. The company provides discovery planning and technical services to the nation's most-respected law firms and corporate law departments to uncover electronic evidence buried in e-mail files, desktop and laptop computers, network servers and backup tapes. Computer Forensics Inc. is headquartered in Seattle and operates a regional office in Lawrence, Kansas. For more information, call 206-324-6232 or visit www.forensics.com.