George Socha
Managing Director
BDO

George Socha is a managing director in BDO’sForensic Technology Servicespractice. Named an “E-Discovery Trailblazer” byThe American Lawyer, he assists corporate, law firm, and government clients with all facets of electronic discovery, including information governance, as an expert witness and consultant. George has served clients in a variety of industries including pharmaceutical, energy, retail, banking, and technology, among others. As a renowned industry thought leader, Mr. Socha has authored more than 50 articles and spoken at more than 300 engagements across the world on a variety of e-discovery topics. His extensive knowledge has also been utilized more than 20 times to provide expert testimony. Co-founder of the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM), a framework that outlines the standards for the recovery and discovery of digital data, and the Information Governance Reference Model (IGRM), a similar framework specific to information management, George is skilled at developing and implementing electronic discovery strategies and managing electronic discovery processes. Prior to joining BDO, George spent 16 years as a litigation attorney in private practice before starting his own consulting firm focused on e-discovery issues in 2003. George has also served as a guest lecturer at universities across the U.S.

Eric Shirk
Principal; Digital Forensics and Cyber Investigations
BDO

Eric Shirk is the national leader of digital forensics in BDO’sForensic Technology Servicespractice. He has more than 20 years of experience conducting both domestic and international investigations for corporations and their legal counsel in the financial, healthcare, and energy industries. Eric has extensive knowledge and experience assisting clients with investigations involving financial fraud, data breaches, anti-bribery and foreign corruption, whistleblower allegations, intellectual property theft and trademark protection, embezzlement and kickback schemes, litigation intelligence, and specialized fact finding. Experienced in discovery protocols, neutral third party analysis agreements, 26(f) conferences, protective orders, preservation and collection protocols and 30(b)(6) preparations, Eric frequently provides expert witness testimony in both state and federal courts in the areas of intellectual property theft and digital evidence spoliation. Eric is the sole inventor for a U.S. patent for “System and Method for Preserving Electronically Stored Information.” This solution is marketed as “Tristan” and allows a layperson to complete a forensic image of a laptop, desktop or server computer.

Mike Quartararo, CEDS
President
ACEDS

Mike Quartararo is the President of the Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists (ACEDS), which provides training and certification in e-discovery to the legal community. He is the author of the 2016 book Project Management in Electronic Discovery and has been successfully consulting in information governance, e-discovery, project management and legal technology for two decades, including 10-year stints at both Skadden Arps and Stroock. He is a certified Project Management Professional and a Certified E-Discovery Specialist. He frequently writes and speaks on e-discovery, legal operations, project management and technology topics. Reach him via email at mquartararo@aceds.org or on Twitter @mikequartararo.