Regular readers know that one web site I frequent is that of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel. Its "Hot Cases" section frequently has cases from other jurisdictions that I find interesting and its quarterly magazine has articles I enjoy reading.
Here is an interesting article that discusses how to introduce electronic data into evidence. It is written by Seth Gausnell and Allison Stoll of St. Louis.
At a minimum, the article reminds us of the simple fact that we must not only gather evidence during informal and formal discovery but we must be able to get that evidence before the fact-finder. Sometimes that task is easy, such as when the witness actually saw an event occur. Other times, it is much more complicated.
We all get a little lazy about keeping up with the law of evidence because (a) there are so few trials and (b) most lawyers will not require their opponents to jump through every hoop. However, the fact of the matter is that (a) some lawyers will make you undertake that effort; (b) some judges will make you do so and (c) you are less likely to be forced to jump through the hoops if your opponent thinks that you know how to do so. There is also that matter called persuasion: sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes you want to jump through the hoops in enhance the credibility of evidence.
So, this article is shared with the goal of helping you think about the foundation necessary for electronic evidence, an area each of us are encountering with increasing frequency.