communityovereverything Charles River Associates
If you are a CSI/Law and Order fan - this ones for you! CityCentral Richardson just welcomed digital forensics expert, David Cowen with Charles River Associates, to our community. David helps examine computers, phones and devices in investigations and testifies about his findings. Read more to learn what led David to this career and how Charles River Associates came to be!
Tell us a little about you and your company.
I'm David Cowen and I'm a Vice President at Charles River Associates. CRA is a company that mainly focuses on providing expert witness testimony in different litigation matters and started in Boston 50 years ago with some economics experts. One was from Harvard and the other was from MIT, the river that runs between them is the Charles River so they called their company Charles River Associates. I started at Charles River a month ago and before joining they didn't have any one in the DFW area so this is our first office here! I'm sure many others will be joining me here soon. I personally do digital forensics expert work where I examine peoples computers, phones and devices to determine who did what when and testify about it. I've been doing digital forensics for 23 years, have a patent in digital forensics, 7 awards in digital forensics, a podcast in digital forensics, a course on cloud forensics, and have written five books on the subject.
What lead you to the position you’re in now?
Prior to CRA, I was a Managing Director at KPMG in their cyber services practice. Prior to that I ran a boutique consulting firm in digital forensics for 14 years in the Vibe building down the road!
What sets your business apart from other companies?
We focus on providing the leading experts on different topics to provide their knowledge in different legal disputes.
What is something you wish you’d known when you were just starting your career?
The amount of things you will learn in your chosen field will always change and evolve. Never look to be 'done' learning something as it will likely change soon. You have to stay current and adapt to the times or else your knowledge will expire.
How do you navigate your work-life balance?
This was a bigger issue for me earlier in my career. I learned from my wife that it's ok to say that you need to reschedule a meeting and that your calendar is yours to own. Block off time for yourself and if you don't take care of yourself no one else will.
What is the most rewarding part of your job?
Being able to tell the truth of what happened and helping my clients get the remedy they deserve.
If you had a friend in town, and you could take them to one of your favorite restaurants or spots in your community, where would you take them to?
Nuevo Leon Taqueria on 75 and Campbell!
We'd like to thank David for being a part of our member spotlight series! To learn more about CRA, visit www.crai.com.
If you are intersted in being a part of this series, please email info@citycentral.com