Contact Discovery Services is ecstatic to announce James Whitehead as new Associate Director of Digital Forensics.
Associate Director of Digital Forensics
In his own words, James has done collections “anywhere there’s a hard drive.” In September 2020, James came on board at Contact to help expand the company’s forensics offerings.
“I think the goal is to increase the visibility of our forensic offering by removing communication road blocks and solving our clients’ technical business issues,” said James. “As technologists we strive to build useful partnerships with our end clients that allow them to wield our expertise to solve problems.”
While Contact has always prided ourselves on offering end-to-end discovery services, including forensic collection, preservation, and analysis, the company believes that James’s arrival can take our Forensics department to soaring new heights.
This is particularly true in regards to testimony and depositions. In his 10+ years of experience in forensics, James has taken the stand to verify data and defend a client’s collection process. Now, Contact clients who need that service don’t need to rope in an additional vendor.
“We are very excited to have James lead our digital forensics team,” said Dave DiGiovanni, CEO at Contact. “He’s a phenomenal industry leader that really enhances Contact’s existing capability to deliver world class forensic analysis and testimony.”
James made the jump into forensics in 2009. At the time, he was working in project management for a litigation support vendor, often handling the toughest technical projects of that company.
“We got a large backup tape job and decided to handle it in house,” James said while reminiscing about the early days of his forensics career. “From there, I grew into data collections and then into full fledged forensics.”
Through his career, James has always been fascinated by the industry’s rapid pace of evolution. “The cutting edge of Forensics continues to evolve as technology evolves, creating new challenges we get to solve for our clients,” says James.
It’s precisely that passion for the end client that helps make James such a great fit for Contact, where client-centric innovations are at the center of company culture.
“From our first conversation, James and I immediately clicked,” said Scott Keeble, Director of eDiscovery Operations at Contact. “His attention to detail, attitude towards work, and ideas for innovation were immediately apparent, which enables him to quickly become an integral part of our team.”
When James is NOT using his strong inquisitive sense to find the truth in a circuit board, he loves unwinding by watching racing and learning about cars. More recently, he discovered a love for furniture building. “During COVID, everyone else got baking, I got sanding!” he joked.
Contact has yet to try out the furniture James has built, but is fully confident in his ability to help you build your case.