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...
Minnesota Legal Blog
Minnesota Legal Blog
Authenticating ESI in Federal Court: Distinctive Characteristics
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...
Finding the Author: Using Subpoenas to Find the Anonymous Author
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...
Minn. R. Evid. 901: Don’t Take Authentication for Granted
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...
Minnesota Legal Ethics: Is it ok to Friend your Enemy?
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...
Trial Practice: Federal Privacy Considerations in the Age of ESI
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...
How to Prove your ESI Hasn’t Changed
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...
The Best Evidence Rule in Minnesota
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...
Don’t Miss the Mark: Choosing a Standard Character Mark or Stylized Logo in Your Trademark Application
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...
Understanding Defamation Per Se
In general, Minnesota law provides a remedy to those who have been defamed. Defamation consists of (1) a statement of fact that tends to injure one's reputation; (2) which is communicated to another; and (3) that the speaker knew or should have known to be...