Announcing the "Group Legal Defense Model" by EASY Forensics × LegalTech VDR for Legal Defense in the Era of Corporate Groups

Legal Data Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Yoshiaki Morita; hereinafter referred to as Legal Data), a subsidiary of AI Data Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Takani Sasaki), a company specializing in the utilization of corporate data and AI, has announced the "Group Legal Defense Model" as a new solution in the fields of forensics, e-discovery, and legal tech, powered by EASY Forensics × LegalTech VDR.

This is a new legal defense model that integrates EASY Forensics (investigation/evidence engine) and LegalTech VDR (legal/confidential information sharing infrastructure) to enhance the collaboration between "legal affairs, external counsel, and affiliated companies" within large manufacturing companies, holding companies (HDs), and corporate groups. Legal Data proposes a legal defense infrastructure suitable for the era of corporate groups through a "dual approach of investigation (sword) × confidential information sharing (castle)".

Background: Legal Challenges in the Era of Corporate Groups

In recent years, particularly among large corporations, there has been a trend towards:

- Becoming holding companies (HD)

- Group management

- Complex supply chains

- Strengthening governance

- ESG and internal controls

As these trends progress, the nature of legal affairs, internal investigations, and crisis management is also changing significantly.

In particular, issues such as:

- Antimonopoly Act and Subcontract Act

- Response to the Fair Trade Commission

- Quality issues

- Information leaks

- Whistleblowing

- Cyber incidents

- Accounting fraud

have become themes that affect not just a single company but the "entire group."

However, in practice, many operations still rely on:

- Email distribution

- USB transfers

- Individual sharing

- Person-dependent lawyer collaboration

This leads to risks such as:

- Mis-sending

- Secondary leaks

- Scattering of evidence

- Confusion in version control

- Unclear access permissions

in information sharing between group companies, legal departments, and external counsel.

Legal Data believes that "group legal affairs require a redesign of the sharing method itself."

What is the "Group Legal Defense Model" by EASY Forensics × LegalTech VDR?

The Group Legal Defense Model is a legal affairs, investigation, and external counsel collaboration model for the era of corporate groups, combining EASY Forensics (sword) and LegalTech VDR (castle).

1 EASY Forensics

- Investigation and Evidence Engine (Sword) -

EASY Forensics is a forensic tool that performs tasks such as:

- PC investigation

- Operation log acquisition

- Data preservation

- Analysis of deleted files

- Verification of USB usage history

- Unauthorized access investigation

It is used as a field tool to "acquire facts (Truth Engine)" in cases of quality issues, internal fraud, data exfiltration, antitrust investigations, whistleblowing cases, and more. https://www.fss.jp/tool/easy/

2 LegalTech VDR

- Legal Affairs and Confidential Information Sharing Infrastructure (Castle) -

LegalTech VDR is a SaaS-based legal infrastructure for securely sharing and managing legal documents, contracts, evidence, and materials for collaboration with external counsel.

Key features include:

- Permission control

- Access restrictions

- Audit logs

- Download control

- Version management

- Digital watermarking

These features enable "sharing without leakage (Trust Engine)." https://www.fss.jp/vdr/

Connecting External Counsel, Legal Affairs, and Affiliated Companies

When an issue occurs within a corporate group, EASY Forensics is used first to acquire and preserve evidence such as:

- Emails

- USB history

- File operations

- Deletion logs

Subsequently, a secure viewing environment is established on LegalTech VDR accessible only to:

- The legal department

- External counsel

- Affiliated companies

- Relevant executives

The crucial point is to operate without "sending emails."

This allows investigations, reviews, and management decisions to be conducted in a secure and controlled environment.

Future Outlook

Legal Data aims to further evolve forensics, e-discovery, and legal tech to realize a "Legal Defense OS" that supports the legal affairs, crisis management, and governance of entire corporate groups.

In Conclusion (Message)

What is needed in the era of corporate groups is neither mere investigation nor mere sharing.

Legal Data believes that the "Group Legal Defense Model," which enables "evidence acquisition, secure sharing, and legal protection," will become the new standard for corporate legal affairs.

About Legal Data Inc.

Name: Legal Data Inc.

Representative Director: Yoshiaki Morita

Established: April 2018

Location: 4F, Metro City Kamiyacho Building, 5-1-5 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Capital: 26 million yen

URL: https://www.legaldata.co.jp/

As a group company of AI Data Inc., Legal Data Inc. was established in 2018 to specialize in the legal tech market, focusing on the development and sales of legal tech tools, as well as dispatching personnel in the legal tech field. Leveraging the know-how of its group business, which has been ongoing since 1999 in the legal market, the company provides various support to enable companies of all sizes, from small and medium-sized enterprises to large corporations, as well as legal professionals such as lawyers, judicial scriveners, and tax accountants, to engage in investigative work with peace of mind. The company aims to enhance customer corporate value by supporting the secure management and utilization of legal data and assisting in building internal data infrastructure that emphasizes governance and compliance.

About AI Data Inc.

Name: AI Data Inc.

Representative: Takani Sasaki

Established: April 2015

Location: 4F, Metro City Kamiyacho Building, 5-1-5 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Capital: 100 million yen (including 1.525 billion yen in capital reserve)

URL: https://www.aidata.co.jp/

AI Data Inc. has been engaged in businesses that protect and utilize corporate and individual data assets for over 20 years, based on its data infrastructure and intellectual property infrastructure. Trusted by over 10,000 companies and over 1 million customers, its "Data Ecosystem Business," which encompasses data sharing, backup, recovery, migration, and erasure, has achieved the No. 1 sales volume for 17 consecutive years according to the BCN Award. In data infrastructure, in addition to providing IDX's cloud data management and recovery services, the company has also received high praise in the legal field through its forensic investigation and evidence disclosure services, which were awarded the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award. On the other hand, in intellectual property infrastructure, the company supports IP management and monetization by building the patent search and application support system "Tokkyo.Ai" and an IP marketplace for patent trading. By integrating these, it offers a fusion platform for data and intellectual property through generative AI "AI KoumeiTM." Furthermore, the company is focusing on nurturing young engineers in collaboration with the Ministry of Defense, contributing to the strengthening of social infrastructure through data management and intellectual property protection.