Executive Team

As an original founder and the Chief Executive Officer, David is responsible for setting the company’s overall strategy and vision.  David puts a definite emphasis on delivering products and services that exceed client expectations. David started his career in the savings and loan industry and moved to the insurance industry in the 80s before launching his entrepreneurial ventures in 1991 with a private investigation company. After observing his colleagues’ success with litigation support companies, David moved out of his hometown of Austin, Texas to start his own in 1994.  Although it started as a paper-based discovery firm, technology was swiftly advancing, and David incorporated e-Discovery progressively into his companies. David sold his first litigation-support company to IKON, where he successfully accomplished his required earn-out before he started several more very successful litigation-support companies. In 2002, David launched American Data Services, which subsequently became Advanced Discovery through strategic mergers.

As Chief Operating Officer, Michael Driver focuses on the optimization of daily operations and is the conduit between the field offices and the corporate office. Michael started his business career in 1998 as a Manager for an international freight-forwarding business that specialized in shipping perishables.  In 1992, Michael joined the litigation support industry with Researchers as the General Manager before being promoted to West Coast Operations Director in 1996. Michael’s responsibilities included P&L and budget oversight for his region, and he also conducted due diligence on acquisitions and mergers for the corporation. Michael joined CopyPage, Inc. in 2000, and held several upper management positions before being promoted to Chief Operating Officer.  During Michael’s tenure at CopyPage, Inc., he guided the company through its transformation from a paper discovery provider to a leading e-Discovery provider in Southern California. Then in 2010, Michael purchased CopyPage, Inc. and formed CP Document Technologies, LLC, with a goal to expose his Southern California customers, clients, and employees to national resources and capabilities for e-Discovery services. In order to achieve that goal, Michael merged his company with Advanced Discovery, LLC in September 2011.

As one of the original founders of Advanced Discovery, Thadd Hale keeps the company at the forefront of the constantly evolving e-Discovery industry and is responsible for the technological vision of the company. Thadd has more than ten years of management experience and has held senior management roles for several national providers in the litigation support industry.  Thadd started his career in sales for IKON in 1998, where he gained a deep understanding of both sales and technology operations.  In 2002, Thadd joined OmniDox, a nationwide legal services provider, where his responsibilities included managing and developing service lines as diverse as national sales, data processing, forensic collections and web hosting.   In 2005, Thadd started Advanced Discovery Services in Silicon Valley with the goal of building a technology leader in the litigation support space.  Thadd’s company experienced tremendous growth, which enabled him to merge Advanced Discovery Services with American Data in 2010 to form one of the largest litigation support providers in the nation.  During each of Advanced Discovery’s mergers, Thadd played a vital role in shaping the acquired technology divisions into a more efficient organization.

Thadd graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Kansas.

In his current role as Chief Financial Officer of Advanced Discovery, Chad manages all accounting and finance-related items.  Chad has successfully navigated the company through four corporate mergers within seven years. Chad brings more than ten years experience in the litigation support field to his position at Advanced Discovery. Chad started his career in finance at APAC, Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia, where he spent just two years as a staff accountant before being fast-tracked through a series of promotions to Assistant Controller and Operations Analyst. In 2002, he became Director of the Fiscal Process Review Team for two years, where his responsibilities included the oversight of 25 controllers and a budget of $150 million. Chad accepted the position of Chief Financial Officer at OmniDox, a private litigation service company in Kansas City, Kansas in 2003, where he spent two years before joining Advanced Discovery.

Chad graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Accounting from the University of Kansas.

In his role as Chief Investment Officer at Advanced Discovery, John Vandygriff, CFA, CPA has used his keen eye for the best investment opportunities and his oversight role to help ensure that the company’s business model is successful and its shareholders are well rewarded.  John began his career as a Financial Analyst in the savings and loan industry, working at University Savings and Bexar Savings. He subsequently worked as an auditor and consultant for ten years as a Senior Manager at Ernst & Young Financial Advisory Services and Arthur Andersen in corporate finance and litigation services. John also spent four years as a Vice President and Investment Portfolio Manager for Frost Bank prior to accepting a job as Vice President of Development at the Brentwood Christian School. Since 2004, John has devoted his full time and energy to building Advanced Discovery and its predecessor companies.  During his years in business, John has amassed many impressive achievements, including the management of more than $1 billion in aggregate investment portfolios for individuals and institutions; structuring and negotiating successful mergers and acquisitions within the litigation-support industry; testifying as an expert in business valuation and damage analysis in commercial litigation matters; and being an ambassador for Christian education, to name a few.

John graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance from the University of Texas, Austin.  He then earned a Master’s of Science degree in Finance from Texas A&M University and has been a Certified Public Accountant since 1987 as well as a Chartered Financial Analyst since 1991.