Forensic Reports & Declarations | The Waldrep Company
Reports & Declarations

Forensic Expert Reports & Declarations

A forensic expert report gets read three ways: by the judge as gatekeeper, by opposing counsel hunting for a Daubert angle, and out loud to the jury. We write Rule 26 reports, declarations, affidavits, and rebuttal reports for attorneys who expect all three.

The Document Your Case Gets Judged On

A forensic expert report is often the only part of a forensic examination the court ever sees. The analysis can be sound, but if the written report overreaches, skips its methodology, or buries its limitations, opposing counsel will find the gap and build a motion on it.

The Waldrep Company prepares Rule 26 expert reports, expert declarations, affidavits, and rebuttal reports for attorneys nationwide. Eric L. Waldrep, a Magnet Certified Forensics Examiner (MCFE) with 19 years of digital forensics experience and 27 years in law enforcement, has written findings in casework in federal and state courts.

Reports name the tools behind the findings (Cellebrite UFED, GrayKey, Magnet AXIOM), document how each was used, and tie every conclusion to specific artifacts: hash values, file paths, timestamps, records you can cite by exhibit number. What the evidence does not show is stated just as plainly as what it does.

Report Formats

Formal Rule 26 expert reports, shorter summary declarations, affidavits for motions practice, supplemental and rebuttal reports, and demonstrative exhibit packages for mediation or trial.

  • Expert reports meeting FRCP Rule 26(a)(2)(B) requirements
  • Examination scope and methodology documentation
  • Annotated screenshot exhibits
  • Hash value verification and chain of custody records
  • Tool and version documentation
  • Timeline and event reconstruction charts
  • Supplemental and rebuttal reports
  • Declarations in support of motions
  • Affidavits for administrative proceedings
  • Simplified summary reports for mediation
  • Demonstrative trial exhibit preparation
Fed + State
Courts Qualified
19
Years Digital Forensics
27
Years Law Enforcement

Writing That Expects Cross-Examination

Every document is written on the assumption that a capable opposing expert will read it line by line.

FRCP Rule 26 Reports

Full written disclosures meeting federal expert report requirements: opinions, bases, data, exhibits, qualifications, and prior testimony list.

Daubert-Ready Methodology

All opinions rest on peer-accepted methodologies with full citation to industry standards, research, and tool validation studies.

Rebuttal Reports

Critical analysis of opposing expert work. We identify methodological flaws, unsupported conclusions, and omissions with precision.

Visual Exhibits

Annotated screenshots, timeline graphics, and device diagrams that make technical evidence comprehensible to a lay audience.

Expedited Turnaround

Rush report preparation available when deadlines are tight. We communicate progress and flag any issues early.

Multiple Formats

Reports delivered in Word, PDF, or native formats. Supporting data productions available for exhibit disclosure.

Rule 26 Reports, Expert Declarations, and Rebuttal Reports

Different stages of a case call for different documents. These are the three attorneys ask for most.

Rule 26 Expert Reports

The complete written disclosure federal practice requires: every opinion and its basis, the facts and data considered, exhibits, qualifications, prior testimony, and compensation. State court matters get the same discipline. Written to be served on deadline and defended at deposition.

Declarations & Affidavits

Sworn statements scoped to a single question: authenticating records, supporting a motion to compel, addressing spoliation, protective orders. An expert declaration is shorter than a full report, held to the same standard, and often needed fast.

Rebuttal Reports

A written response to the opposing expert. Rebuttal work begins with a flat-fee review of the opposing report, so you know whether that report has real problems before you pay for a full rebuttal.

What a Court-Ready Report Contains

Ask what goes into the report before you ask how fast it can arrive. A report earns its credibility in four places, and weakness in any one gives opposing counsel a foothold.

Methodology, Written to Be Repeated

The examination is described step by step, in enough detail that another qualified examiner could follow the same process and check the result. Reliability of method is the question a Daubert motion asks, so the report answers it on the page.

Tools, Documented by Name and Version

Cellebrite UFED, GrayKey, Magnet AXIOM: whichever tools produced the findings are identified, along with versions and how each was applied. Vague references to unnamed software read poorly under scrutiny.

Findings Tied to Artifacts

Every opinion traces to something concrete: a hash value, a file path, a timestamp, a database record. If a statement cannot be walked back to a specific artifact, it does not go in the report as a finding.

Limitations, Stated Honestly

Every method has boundaries and every dataset has gaps. A report that says so reads as credible; one that claims certainty about everything reads as advocacy, and judges know the difference. The limitations section is not a concession. It is often the reason the rest of the report gets believed.

Written for the Court and for the Jury

The Judge Reads It as Gatekeeper

Under Rule 702 and Daubert, the court wants to know whether the methods are reliable and whether they were reliably applied. That reader needs the methodology, the tool documentation, and the reasoning that connects data to opinion, laid out without hand-waving.

The Jury Hears It Read Aloud

Jurors rarely read the report, but they hear it. On direct and on cross, sentences get read back word for word. A sentence that needed a translator when it was written becomes a liability in front of twelve people, so we do not write them.

So we write in layers: plain-English findings up front, technical depth in the body and appendices, terminology defined at first use. And because a report is only as strong as the person defending it, the examiner behind it is available for deposition and trial through our expert witness service.

Rebuttal Reports Start with the Opposing Expert's Report

Before anyone writes a rebuttal, someone has to read the other side's report the way a skeptical examiner reads it. That review is a fixed-scope, fixed-fee engagement.

The Opposing Expert Report Review is a structured pass through the opposing report: the methodology it claims, the tools it relied on, whether the cited artifacts actually support the conclusions, and where the reasoning stretches past the data. The written assessment feeds strategy, deposition prep, and motion practice.

Three outcomes are possible. The report has real problems, and the review becomes the working outline for a rebuttal report and your cross-examination. The report overreaches in specific places worth targeting. Or the report is solid, and knowing that early saves you the cost of a rebuttal that goes nowhere. You hear which one you have, without spin.

If the opposing findings rest on a Cellebrite extraction, a focused Cellebrite report review examines what the extraction actually contains, and what it does not.

  • Methodology assessed against accepted forensic practice
  • Tool use and version documentation checked
  • Conclusions tested against the cited artifacts
  • Omissions and unexamined alternatives flagged
  • Daubert vulnerabilities identified with specifics
  • Written assessment delivered for counsel's use
Opposing Expert Report Review: $2,750 flat

Fixed fee, fixed scope, no hourly meter. If the review supports a rebuttal report, that drafting is billed separately from $425/hr.

See the Review Service

Straightforward Fees, Agreed in Writing

A written fee agreement comes before any work begins. The initial consultation is free.

Reports, Declarations & Consulting

Report preparation, declarations, affidavits, analysis, and case consulting are billed from $425/hr, scoped to the document your matter actually needs.

Forensic Acquisition

When devices must be collected first, forensic acquisition is $1,500 per device, with chain of custody documented from intake.

Opposing Expert Report Review

A fixed-scope review of the other side's report for $2,750 flat. The usual starting point for rebuttal work.

Testimony rates, retainer tiers, and the full schedule are on the rates page. Questions about scope or timing? Start with a free consultation.

Free Resource for Attorneys

Expert Witness Report Review Checklist

A structured review for opposing experts' reports: methodology, Daubert vulnerabilities, and unsupported conclusions.

Get the Checklist →

Frequently Asked Questions

Daubert, turnaround, rebuttal reports, affidavits, and exhibits.

No honest expert guarantees a report will survive a challenge, and you should be wary of one who does. What courts examine under Daubert is methodology: whether the methods are accepted in the field, whether they were applied reliably, and whether the conclusions follow from the data. A report that documents repeatable methods, names its tools, ties findings to specific artifacts, and states its limitations plainly gives the court what it needs. The honest limitations section is often the part that holds up best under cross-examination.
It depends on the evidence volume and the number of opinions the report must support. A focused report following a single device examination often takes one to two weeks once analysis is complete. A full Rule 26 report in a multi-device matter takes longer. Bring your disclosure deadline to the first call and you will get a straight answer on whether it is workable.
Often, yes. Declarations and affidavits are narrower than full expert reports, and when the underlying analysis is already done, a declaration supporting a motion can usually be drafted, reviewed, and signed within a few days. If your timeline is measured in hours rather than days, call before assuming it cannot be done.
Yes. Rebuttal work starts with a structured review of the opposing expert's report, offered as a flat $2,750 Opposing Expert Report Review. That review examines methodology, tool use, and whether the cited artifacts actually support the conclusions. If there are real problems, the review becomes the foundation of a written rebuttal report. If the opposing work is sound, you hear that too, before spending more.
That is common and sensible. Not every matter needs a full expert report. Affidavits and short declarations are billed hourly from $425/hr and scoped to the motion they support. If the matter later grows into full litigation, that work carries forward into the larger report instead of being repeated.
Yes. Findings are supported by annotated screenshots, artifact tables, timelines, and extraction summaries, each labeled and referenced in the body of the report. They are built so counsel can lift them directly into motions or demonstratives, and the underlying data is preserved and producible on request.

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