By Nick Ferrara & Aparna V. Kaliappan
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE WHITE PAPER
This recently published white paper by DisputeSoft’s computer software expert witnesses offers an overview of software development concepts tailored for legal professionals involved in high-stakes commercial disputes. DisputeSoft senior software expert and lead author Nick Ferrara presented this paper at the American Bar Association – 2025 Business Law Spring Meeting in New Orleans, LA.
This paper begins by demystifying software and source code, explaining how software is created and the central role it plays in modern business operations. Using a construction analogy, it breaks down the software development lifecycle into phases such as requirements gathering, design, construction, testing, and implementation.
The paper explores development methodologies, including the traditional waterfall model and the iterative Agile approach, and discusses how different project types—such as custom builds or implementations of commercial-off-the-shelf systems—impact the processes attorneys may need to understand.
The paper focuses on systems of record commonly used in software projects—crucial for discovery and evidentiary purposes in litigation. These include project management tools like Jira, source code repositories such as Git, and document management systems like SharePoint. The paper also highlights the significance of environments used during software development, such as testing and production servers.
In conclusion, DisputeSoft expert authors advise attorneys to identify which development processes and systems were used in a given project, as this understanding helps shape discovery strategy and evidence production; emphasizing that attorneys should consult technical experts to properly analyze and interpret software artifacts, especially when issues such as source code examination or forensic data recovery arise.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE WHITE PAPER
About the Authors
Nick Ferrara, EnCE
Mr. Ferrara has approximately 20 years’ experience in the information technology field, including consulting work, IT management, staffing, and systems administration. At DisputeSoft, Mr. Ferrara has been an integral part of more than 100 matters, spanning numerous commercial industries and all of DisputeSoft’s core practice areas.
Mr. Ferrara has been engaged as an expert in state, national, and international jurisdictions and has testified both in U.S. federal court and before the American Arbitration Association. Mr. Ferrara is also a certified computer forensic examiner, holding the EnCase Certified Examiner (EnCE) certification.
Ms. Kaliappan has approximately 10 years’ experience in the information technology field, including substantial experience in providing technical analysis in software disputes. At DisputeSoft, Ms. Kaliappan has worked on approximately 50 matters involving copyright, trade secrets, data analytics, software project failure, software patents, and computer forensics in various commercial industries.
Ms. Kaliappan has extensive experience in data analytics, including graduate-level work in quantitative data visualization. Ms. Kaliappan also holds multiple Oracle and Microsoft database certifications.
