Security & Compliance | Proteus Discovery

Austin Hagen

Vice President, Operations
austin.hagen@proteusdiscovery.com

Austin leads the client services team, overseeing the strategy and execution of forensics, ESI hosting, and managed review. His 15 years of eDiscovery experience include project management, training, and consulting. Austin is responsible for process creation and documentation, workflow automation, and ensuring Proteus’ growth is geared to maintain the white-glove service Proteus clients have come to expect.

B.S., Computer Systems, University of Wisconsin-Superior, 2005
Brainspace Certified Analyst
Brainspace Certified Specialist
Reveal Review
Reveal Administrator
Relativity Analytics Specialist
‍Relativity Review Management Specialist
Relativity Certified Administrator (RCA)
Relativity Expert

Ryan Rieff

Director, eDiscovery Services
ryan.rieff@proteusdiscovery.com

Ryan leads our core eDiscovery services, including ESI processing, productions, and database administration. He is a Relativity Master, a feat achieved by only about 250 of Relativity's 250,000 global users.

Prior to joining Proteus, he worked as a document review attorney, becoming proficient in platforms including Relativity, Viewpoint, and Nuix and working extensively in first pass, QC, and privilege reviews.

B.A., History, Indiana University, 2007
J.D., Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, 2015
Relativity Review Management Specialist
RelativityOne Certified Pro (ROCP)
Relativity Certified Administrator (RCA)
Relativity Master

Gary Smith

Senior Project Manager
gary.smith@proteusdiscovery.com

Scott Collins

Senior Project Manager
scott.collins@proteusdiscovery.com

Scott has honed his eDiscovery skills while managing projects at Proteus since 2015. Prior to joining the team, he was a document review attorney with Black Letter Discovery, and a staff attorney in Barnes & Thornburg LLP’s litigation department from 2012 to 2014. Scott has also worked as a law clerk and associate attorney for other Indianapolis-area firms practicing in the areas of personal injury, criminal defense, family law, and property law.

Scott’s practice involves regular management and delivery of eDiscovery and Information Governance services to a wide variety of local, regional, and national clients. He enjoys serving as an intermediary between clients, outside counsel, eDiscovery vendors, and document review teams. For over five years, Scott has engaged in various high-profile document review projects, including as a first line reviewer, a QC reviewer, a team leader, and a project manager. He has worked on projects ranging from medical device litigation for a Fortune 100 subsidiary to contract litigation for a multinational chemical corporation.

B.A., Mass Communications and History, Anderson University, 1999
J.D., Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, 2010
RelativityOne Certified Pro (ROCP)

Sarah Barth

Senior Project Manager
sarah.barth@proteusdiscovery.com

Sarah draws on a decade of legal experience to help her clients navigate large-scale discovery matters. She brings her affinity for detail-oriented work to each stage of the process, leveraging her background as first pass reviewer, quality control reviewer, compliance counsel, project attorney, and project manager to ensure her clients' needs are translated and implemented throughout the project lifecycle.

Prior to joining Proteus, Sarah's background included facilitating large commercial real estate transactions, global enterprise regulatory compliance, and class action settlement administration.

B.A., Social Sciences, Washington State University, 2010
J.D., Environmental and Natural Law Certificate, University of Denver Sturm College of Law, 2013

Sarah Whitney

Project Manager
sarah.whitney@proteusdiscovery.com

B.A., International Studies, Bradley University, 2008
J.D., Western Michigan University Cooley Law School, 2012

Darryl Durham

Associate Project Manager
darryl.durham@proteusdiscovery.com

B.A., Journalism, Columbia College Chicago, 1982

Travis Morgenstern

Associate Project Manager
‍travis.morgenstern@proteusdiscovery.com

B.A., Business Administration, Fort Hays State University, 2022

Ryan Short

Vice President, Revenue
ryan.short@proteusdiscovery.com

Ryan leads business development and consults with clients to design engagements that are right-sized with respect to services, software, and cost. He is a Certified eDiscovery Specialist and holds certifications from multiple hosting and review platforms.

He also leads commercialization efforts for DiscoveryMaster, a Relativity integration developed by the Proteus leadership team, now licensed to law firms, managed services providers, consulting firms, and corporate legal teams across the globe.

B.A., Telecommunications, Indiana University, 2011
M.B.A., Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, 2020
Certified eDiscovery Specialist (CEDS)
Relativity Certified Sales Professional
Reveal Sales Certified
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Built for Legal Data Integrity

At Proteus Discovery Group, the security of our clients’ data is not a secondary consideration, it’s a strategic imperative. Legal teams, whether within law firms or corporate legal departments, entrust us with highly sensitive, often privileged information. This includes confidential communications, regulatory risk exposure, financial records, personnel files, trade secrets, and other data types that, if mishandled, could create real-world legal and reputational consequences.
We don’t take that responsibility lightly. Security and compliance are foundational to our approach across every eDiscovery engagement, from initial data collection to final production.

Trusted by Legal Teams Nationwide

As a litigator-led eDiscovery partner, we understand firsthand how much is at stake. Our clients depend on us to handle complex legal data sets while protecting confidentiality, ensuring defensibility, and maintaining compliance with evolving industry standards. Whether we’re working with a partner at an AmLaw 100 firm, a boutique firm, or in-house legal ops team, we treat every engagement with the same level of care and rigor.
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Proteus has built a reputation for being operationally transparent. We guide legal teams through the intricacies of eDiscovery, helping them avoid the risks associated with non-compliant vendors, fragmented workflows, or insufficient security protocols.
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To further explain why vendor security is non-negotiable in legal services, explore this blog post by our VP of Operations.

SOC 2 Type 1 Compliance: What It Means and Why It Matters

In 2024, Proteus successfully achieved SOC 2® Type 1 compliance with the guidance of third-party audit firm A-LIGN. This milestone validates our implementation of rigorous security controls designed to protect the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of legal data across our infrastructure.
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SOC 2 is a globally recognized auditing standard developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Achieving this attestation means our systems, software, personnel, and protocols were evaluated against high-stakes criteria to ensure we are both secure in theory and secure in practice.

The SOC 2 Type 1 attestation validates Proteus’s adherence to rigorous security controls and processes.

“Congratulations to Proteus Discovery Group for completing their SOC 2 audit, a widely recognized signal of trust and security. It's great to work with organizations like Proteus, who understand the value of expertise in driving an efficient audit and the importance of a high-quality final report."
— Steve Simmons, COO, A-LIGN

Legal professionals deserve to work with eDiscovery partners who prioritize security at every phase of a matter. We don’t believe in learning the hard way, and our clients shouldn’t have to, either.
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For more on how compliance frameworks like SOC 2 are shaping modern legal services, read our post: The Critical Role of Security and Compliance for Legal Services Companies.

A Secure Foundation for Every Engagement

Proteus serves as a strategic partner to legal teams, and our clients rely on us to manage highly sensitive discovery workflows, from data collection through review and production. That’s why we continuously invest in robust security technologies and practices—to stay ahead of emerging threats and deliver defensible, compliant outcomes.

Proteus Security