Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Legal status of emails

Of course, if he admits he sent them, it makes it easy. You might want to keep the raw e-mails, so that an expert could examine the header information to determine their legitimacy and opine that they are legitimate, came from a certain domain, etc. Computer-law lawyers would know more about that. Also, if there are indicia that they are genuine -- such as identifying information about the writer, and he responded to your e-mail -- they could be admissible as well.

Re: Legal status of emails

The introduction of e-mail evidence has become fairly routine in commercial litigation, and in the bigger picture, it is treated pretty much as any other (written) evidence -- it has to be authenticated, often cannot be hearsay, must be relevant, must meet the 'best evidence rule,' etc.

There are relatively few civil cases which treat e-mail as being unique or requiring significantly different handling in order to be admissible. I didn't find any California cases in a couple of WestLaw searches.

I did find a fair volume of scholarly articles on the subject in law reviews, and I skimmed a couple of them.

My overall impression is that if the e-mail evidence is the crux of your case -- and I think it is -- and especially if the damages you'll be seeking run well up into five figures or more -- which I don't know -- you or your attorney will definetly want to hire an e-mail expert to authenticate the evidence, including headers and address information, and probably to preserve the hard drive (or entire computer) which is the source. Such experts are readily available to attorneys through bar associations, directories, via the Web, and so on.

Your suit could be brought in Federal court (in California or perhaps elsewhere) if the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000 and all defendants are in different states from all plaintiffs; or it could be brought in state court, probably California's. The rules of evidence in Federal and California courts are very close, but not identical.

One possible issue which I should mention is the means by which the evidence was obtained. If the e-mails were discovered by some kind of invasion of privacy, there may be an additional admissibility problem. It's not so serious if they were copied or forwarded to you by mistake, but if wiretapping or burglary is involved, you do indeed have a problem.

This sounds like an interesting case, and I'd be willing to provide further advice or give you a free consultation by phone or otherwise.

Re: Legal status of emails

Well, the general rule is that emails ARE going to be admissible if they are properly authenticated. The question will be whether there is a dispute as to the authenticity of the emails.

In my last case we were fortunate in that the emails between the parties were not being objected to on the basis of their authenticity. However, you don't know what the other side's response is going to be.

There are ways to find out whether they will dispute the authenticity. Also, we can find out the basis of any allegation that the emails are not authentic. I would recommend these methods first as they are minimal in terms of cost as opposed to hiring a computer expert right off the bat when you don't know that the authenticity of the emails is even an issue.

J. Caleb Donner

LEGAL WARRIORS�

www.LEGALWARRIORS.com

email: [email protected]

Re: Legal status of emails

The courts treat emails just like any other kind of written communication. This means that there is no special rule which keeps emails out, but it also means any particular email is only admissible if the Evidence Code says it is -- and that depends upon what you are trying to prove, what the document says, and many other factors.

Since teaching the law of evidence takes an entire semester of law school, I won't try to summarize it here. The rules are complex and they take into account the facts and arguments in each individual case, so there is no way any lawyer can answer your question without a lot more information. The fact that a document is an email has little to do with whether it is admissible in a given case.

I suggest asking the defendant during discovery to admit that he sent the emails. If he denies it you may need an expert to authenticate them, but if he admits it then you can avoid that hassle and expense.

You also should hire a lawyer if at all possible. Even if you can't afford one for the entire case, you should consult with one for a few hours so you will better understand the process. That way you would be less likely to jeopardize your case by making basic errors.

Re: Legal status of emails

most likely yes. however, you will have to do your homework to authenticate that they originated with him. if he won't admit it during discovery proceedings, you will need an expert to do the tracing to his ip address or to a computer to which he had access.

good luck