William is the Forensic Lead and Chief Information Security Officer for ellwood Evidence Inc., a digital forensic and incident response consultancy. He works with firms to improve their security posture, and to identify, isolate and remediate cyber-threats. Through their work with law enforcement, regulatory agencies, litigators and criminal defense firms, he has provided insight into the technical aspects of online fraud and cyber-theft.

With fifteen years of experience in information technology, ediscovery, digital forensics and digital security, William has implemented and investigated a wide range of technologies as they apply to legal matters. He holds a Bachelors of Science in Computational Cognition from Trinity College, University of Toronto. He is a Certified Information System Security Professional and Ontario-licensed Private Investigator.

Court Appearances

on consent, S.J. v. His Majesty the King 2024, before Justice F. A. Valente, Ontario Court of Justice, Thunder Bay, Northwest Region. Qualified on consent to give expert opinion evidence in the area of digital forensic science.

on consent, R.D. v. Her Majesty the Queen 2022, before Chief Justice Wiebe, Provincial Court of Manitoba, for the Winnipeg Police Service as an expert in:

• the search of materials, including digital and internet based materials, servers and other technological devices including laptops, iPads, digital cameras and USB sticks

• data retrieval, isolation, preservation and destruction processes once material is seized

William has provided support in many cases over the years.  A common engagement is in the review of digital evidence and assisting defense counsel to understand the evidence and testimony of opposing experts then to prepare a cross examination strategy.  

William has also provided digital forensic expertise to many matrimonial, employment law/HR, criminal fraud and civil litigation cases.

Since 2019 William’s forensic team became the principle vendor of digital forensic and eDiscovery services to the Law Society of Ontario (LSO). The LSO has engaged his team in over 200 cases since 2019 ranging from mobile device data preservation and examination to web site and cloud resource preservation and examination to analysis of the authenticity of digital evidence and expert reporting for the LSO Tribunal.

Conferences & Seminars

Panelist

Advancing the Industry

Papers

Teaching

Osgoode Professional Development, 2019 - Present

Teaching the Collection, Preservation and Processing section in the Osgoode Certificate in E-Discovery, Information Governance and Privacy. Regular panelist and presenter.

Guidance Software Part-Time Trainer, 2014 - 2018

Instructed the EnCE Preparation Class at Guidance’s Dulles Virginia facility. Regularly facilitated virtual classroom instruction. Graded EnCE examinations.

Committees

Attendee

Certifications & Professional Education

Digital Forensics

eDiscovery

Forensics Training

Cellebrite

Cellebrite Certified Physical Analyst (CCPA)
Cellebrite Certified Operator (CCO)

Sumuri / Passware

Surviving Encryption

Guidance Software

EnCase eDiscovery
EnCase CyberSecurity
EnCase Enterprise
Network Intrusion Investigations
Advanced Internet Investigations
Advanced Computer Forensics
Computer Forensics II
Computer Forensics I

eDiscovery Training

kCura

Relativity Analytics
Relativity Infrastructure
Relativity Processing
Relativity Assisted Review

edt.

edt Platform Administration

Experience & Education

Professional Experience

ellwood Evidence Inc.
Forensic Lead, CISO (2018 - present)
Senior Examiner (2013 - 2018)
Forensic Examiner (2011 - 2013)

Guidance Software
Part-Time Forensic Trainer (2014-2018)

ellwood Associates Inc.
Solutions Architect (2011-2013)
Support Administrator (2009-2011)

Education

University of Toronto, Trinity College
Bachelor of Science, Computational Cognition (2012-2017)