Legal How-To: Using Email as Evidence

Email evidence can be a powerful tool in your case. While it’s easy to shred paper documents, electronic communications live on and can be a valuable asset for you in court. However, using email evidence in court requires certain steps to be taken beforehand.

First of all, you must authenticate the email. This requires proving that the email is genuine and that it is a true representation of the conversation. Emails can be authenticated by:

• Calling witnesses: The person who sent the email and/or the person who received the email can testify in court as to the email’s authenticity.
• Email addresses: In certain cases, it is enough to prove that the email address belongs to the person in question and is solely used by that person. (For example, in certain cases it is enough to say that the email must have been sent by John Smith at Smith Realtors because the sender’s address is johnsmith@smithrealtors.com.)
• Signature blocks: Many people use business “signature blocks” to identify themselves in email communications. These signature blocks can count as self-authenticating trade inscriptions when it comes to federal evidence. (However, this authentication method depends on your jurisdiction and the rules of the court system in question.)
• Stipulation: When two parties are able to agree about certain facts or issues, they can come together and sign a document that states this agreement. Stipulations are designed to simplify or shorten the litigation process, and it can save both sides valuable time and money. If both parties are willing to agree that the email is authentic, they can sign a stipulation to authenticate it as evidence.

It is important to keep in mind who sent the email and how it is being used in court. Say you are involved in a contested divorce, and you have emails between you and your accountant about your soon-to-be-ex-spouse’s financial situation. You can try to submit these emails as evidence, but in many cases this will fall under the umbrella of “hearsay”—that is, evidence based on someone else’s statements (who is not under oath), rather than a witness’s personal knowledge. In other words, emails between you and your accountant may not be admissible because your accountant is not under oath and the court cannot take his or her word at face value

However, if the emails are between you and the defendant—or someone else and the defendant—you have a better chance of being able to use them in court. Also, certain types of emails (such as work emails) might be exempt from hearsay rules. (In this case, work emails qualify as “business records.” However, all emails sent from work are not necessarily business records.)

If you have questions or concerns about using email communication as evidence in your court case, make sure you consult an experienced attorney. An attorney will be able to walk you through the authentication process and make sure you cover all your legal bases before submitting email records as evidence.