Practical guides and case law analysis on digital evidence management, authentication, and spoliation prevention.
AI tools are transforming how attorneys handle document review, but the infrastructure for what comes after — secure evidence sharing, chain of custody, and authentication — has not kept pace. The gap between faster review and broken sharing workflows is where risk lives.
Read article →Five real cases with real consequences. $542K sanctions, $1M+ in fees, a five-year bar suspension, a $3M punitive sanction, and a not-guilty verdict that turned on a forensic tool bug. What went wrong and how to prevent it.
Read article →Five FRE amendments effective December 2024, proposed FRE 707 for AI-generated evidence, Louisiana's enacted AI evidence framework, and key circuit court rulings on FRCP 37(e) spoliation — a concise reference for practicing attorneys.
Read article →How SHA-256 hash values authenticate digital evidence in court. Covers NIST FIPS 180-4, FRE 902(14) Advisory Committee Notes, Lorraine v. Markel, and the practical workflow from upload to FRE 902(13) certificate.
Read article →Jefferson County processed 67,700 body camera videos in 2025. Defense attorneys must review hundreds of hours per case with no chain of custody after download. The legal framework for BWC evidence management and what needs to change.
Read article →A detailed analysis of the 2015 amendments to FRCP 37(e) — the unified federal framework for ESI spoliation sanctions. Covers the two-tier structure, the intent to deprive standard, emerging circuit consensus, and practical preservation requirements.
Read article →A detailed analysis of the 2017 amendment that lets electronic evidence self-authenticate through written certification instead of live testimony. Includes the full rule text, Advisory Committee Notes, certification requirements, and key cases.
Read article →A practical guide to self-authenticating digital evidence under Federal Rules of Evidence 902(13) and 902(14). Learn how SHA-256 hashing and written certifications eliminate the need for foundation witnesses.
Read article →Real cases, real sanctions. From Zubulake's $29.3M verdict to Allied Concrete's $542K penalty, see what evidence spoliation actually costs — and the preservation strategies that prevent it.
Read article →Defense attorneys receive body cam footage with no chain of custody and no way to prove who viewed it. Here's how to maintain evidence integrity from discovery through trial.
Read article →Answers to the 12 most common questions about digital evidence in court — FRE 902(13), chain of custody, evidence spoliation, how to prove evidence has not been tampered with, and more.
Read article →Individual summaries of landmark digital evidence cases — what happened, what the court held, and how to prevent it.
All digital evidence excluded because neither party authenticated it. The landmark 101-page opinion that defined digital evidence authentication.
Failure to preserve emails resulted in a $29.3M verdict. Established the foundational duty to preserve ESI when litigation is anticipated.
Attorney directed client to delete Facebook evidence. $542K sanctions, $180K fees, and a suspended law license.
Digitally altered photograph in discovery triggered court sanctions. SHA-256 hashing at collection makes this scenario impossible.
A flawed forensic tool and authentication gaps undermined the prosecution's digital evidence case. Chain of custody documentation is the defense.
