Digital Forensic Expert Witness Toronto
Need a digital forensic expert witness for a case in Ontario? Our ISFCE certified examiners preserve the evidence, write independent expert reports and give evidence in court, at tribunals and in arbitration, for lawyers across Toronto and the GTA.
Why DRL Toronto?
Expert witness services
How our examiners support counsel
Expert reports
A signed, independent opinion that answers the questions in your instructions. We explain what we examined, how we did it and what we found, in language a judge or arbitrator can follow.
Review of the other side's expert report
We check the opposing expert's methods, tools, hash values and reasoning, and show you where the conclusions go further than the data allows. If you need it, we write a responding report.
Consulting expert support
Behind-the-scenes help when you don't need a testifying expert yet: making sense of the disclosure, deciding what to ask for, and preparing questions for discovery or cross-examination.
Testimony
Our examiners have given expert evidence and can testify at trials, tribunal hearings and arbitrations, in person or by video where the decision-maker allows it.
Whether you need a computer forensic expert witness for laptops, servers and email, or a phone examiner for messages and location data, the same team can help. Our examiners' CVs are available on request.
Independent by design
Our duty is to the court, not to the side that retains us
Ontario's Rules of Civil Procedure (rule 4.1.01) and Family Law Rules (rule 20.1) say the same thing: an expert's opinion must be fair, objective and non-partisan, and limited to their area of expertise. That duty comes before any obligation to the party who pays for the work.
The Supreme Court of Canada made this a threshold test in White Burgess (2015 SCC 23): an expert who is unable or unwilling to meet that duty can have their evidence excluded.
So we report what the data shows, including when it doesn't help your client, and we tell you as early as we can. Our fees don't depend on the outcome either. That is what makes an opinion worth hearing.
What every expert report includes
- Your instructions and the questions we were asked to answer
- What we examined, with hash values and a full chain of custody
- The methods, tools and software versions we used, so another examiner can test the work
- Our opinion on each issue, the reasons for it and any facts we assumed
- What the data can and can't tell us
- The examiner's qualifications and a signed acknowledgment of expert's duty: Form 53 in civil cases, Form 20.2 in family cases
Matters we work on
Cases where lawyers bring us in
Family law
Messages, photos, call logs and location history in parenting and property disputes. We can act for one party, or as a joint expert where the Family Law Rules or the court require one. See mobile device forensics.
Employment and departing employees
Files copied to USB drives or personal cloud accounts, deleted email and misuse of company systems. Our computer forensics work shows what happened and when.
Civil and commercial disputes
Contract, fraud, insurance and shareholder disputes that turn on email, documents and metadata. For large document sets, see our eDiscovery services.
Criminal defence
An independent review of the Crown's digital evidence: phone extraction reports, timelines and how the data was collected. We plan our work around the notice and disclosure rules in section 657.3 of the Criminal Code.
Disputed messages, photos and documents
Is the screenshot real? Was the photo edited? We test metadata, file system records and the source device. See digital image authentication.
Estates
Accessing a deceased person's phone, computer or accounts for an estate trustee, with the right legal authority and a record of every step. See digital estate forensics.
Need a device examined before you decide on an expert? See all our digital forensics services, or read our guide to digital forensics for law firms on privilege, lawful access and retaining a lab.
Serving Toronto and the GTA
Digital forensic expert witness services across Toronto and the GTA
Our lab is at 145 Traders Blvd East in Mississauga, near Highway 401 and Hurontario Street. Counsel can bring devices in or send them by tracked courier, and they stay in our secured lab under a documented chain of custody until they go back.
Our examiners can attend hearings across Ontario, or give evidence by video where the court allows it. We work with lawyers in:
- Toronto: downtown, North York, Scarborough and Etobicoke
- Peel: Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon
- Halton and Hamilton: Oakville, Burlington, Milton and Hamilton
- York Region: Vaughan, Markham, Richmond Hill and Newmarket
- Durham: Pickering, Ajax, Whitby and Oshawa
- Outside the GTA: anywhere in Ontario or across Canada, using our forensic evidence intake steps
Visit or call the lab
Data Rescue Labs
145 Traders Blvd East, Unit 8, Mississauga, ON L4Z 2E5
Phone: 1-416-238-1232
Monday to Thursday, 6:30 AM to 4:00 PM. Friday, 6:30 AM to 3:00 PM. Closed weekends.
Please call before you come in so we can open a case reference for you.
How it works
From the first call to the hearing
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Tell us about the matter
The parties, the devices or accounts involved and your deadlines. We check for conflicts before we look at any evidence.
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Agree the scope
You send a letter of instruction with the questions you need answered. We confirm the scope, timeline and fees in writing.
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Preserve and analyze
We image each device or extract the phone with forensic tools, verify every copy with hash values and log each step.
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Report and testify
We deliver a signed report, meet with you before the hearing and give evidence if the matter goes ahead.
Ready to start? Open a new case online, or call 1-416-238-1232 to talk it through first.
FAQ
Questions lawyers ask us
What does a digital forensic expert witness do?
A digital forensic expert witness examines phones, computers, storage and online accounts, explains what the data shows in a written report and gives opinion evidence at a hearing if needed. The job is to help the court understand the technical evidence, not to argue for either side.
Have your examiners testified before?
Yes. Our ISFCE certified examiners have given expert evidence and know what to expect in cross-examination. We can send their CVs when you're considering a retainer.
Do your reports follow Ontario's rules for expert reports?
Yes. Our reports cover what rule 53.03 of the Rules of Civil Procedure and rule 20.2 of the Family Law Rules require, including the examiner's qualifications, the instructions received, the opinion on each issue with reasons, and the signed acknowledgment of expert's duty. In a civil action, the report must be served at least 90 days before the pre-trial conference (60 days for a responding report), so it pays to call us early.
Can you review the other side's expert report?
Yes. We check whether the evidence was preserved properly, whether the tools and methods were reliable, and whether the conclusions follow from the data. We can advise you privately, or write a responding report if you plan to call us.
Can you act as a consulting expert only?
Yes. We can help you understand the digital evidence, review disclosure and prepare for discovery or cross-examination, without writing a report. If you later want us to testify, we'll talk with you first about whether that role still fits.
Do you work for the Crown or the defence?
We've worked with the Toronto Police and the Ministry of the Attorney General, and we also act for defence counsel, plaintiffs, defendants and family law clients. Our opinion doesn't change with who retains us, and we check for conflicts before every new matter.
Need a Digital Forensic Expert Witness?
Call to discuss the matter, the devices involved and your court deadlines with one of our ISFCE certified examiners. CVs are available on request.