The federal rules of evidence recently changed specifically with the goal of modifying the authenticity requirements for certain ESI. Specifically, Fed. R. Evid. 902(13) and 902(14) were added to Rule 902 (the rule on self-authenticating documents), and these...
1. Comparison.Corroborate the ESI against other identical data. For example, one forwarded e-mail may be compared to other e-mails from other recipient.2. Control. The purpose of establishing a "chain of custody" is to ensure that the evidence has not been...
One method for authenticating ESI is based on its distinctive characteristics. This concept stems from the following portion of Rule 901(b):(4) Distinctive Characteristics and the Like. The appearance, contents, substance, internal patterns, or other distinctive...
Social media once referred to MySpace. Now it refers to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, among others. The amount of content posted on these sites is substantial. When a social media post is made, it generally (but not always) involves human input. This means the...
Minnesota's Rule 901(b) (on authentication) includes the following example of how a system can be authenticated:(9) Process or system. Evidence describing a process or system used to produce a result and showing that the process or system produces an accurate...
Is it ok to friend your enemy in litigation? Probably not, if you're the lawyer. Remember, if you can't communicate directly with a represented party in real life, you also can't communicate through social media, e.g., requesting that they add you as a "friend." See...
As part of the e-discovery process, keywords can be used to search hard drives, e-mail storage, thumb drives, discs and servers. Keywords can be useful in identifying potentially relevant documents. But practitioners should be aware-particularly when permitting...
Trial Practice involves questions about authenticity and how a practitioner may prove that a document is what the advocate claims.The appearance of an active file format can be changed. One example is a forwarded e-mail message. A "forwarded" e-mail can be modified...
Trial practice requires familiarity with many rules of evidence. One such rule, often overlooked, is the "best evidence rule."The rule itself is easy enough to recite: You need an original if an original is available. But similar to the hearsay rule-with its many...
Filing a trademark application with the U.S. Trademark Office can be a confusing endeavor for the uninitiated. And while the trademark office has gone to great lengths to teach users about the process through videos and how-to instructions, the variety of choices can...
