The Smoking Gun in the E-Mail Box
Article by David Bissinger posted on Law.com, August 23, 2007: Effective examination of witnesses using electronic documents
Many articles talk about the new e-discovery rules, but few address how to use electronic information in examining witnesses.
Just 10 years ago, a lawyer examining a witness might have had only one or two memos in a typical business case. Now, e-mails and other electronic documents give lawyers day-by-day — and often minute-by-minute — records of the ideas and actions of key witnesses.
Remember the Enron trader tapes? Enron’s tapes caught a trader asking about “[a]ll the money you guys stole from those poor grandmothers in California,” with his fellow trader responding, “[y]eah, grandma Millie, man,” according to published transcripts. And it got a lot worse.
These materials can present lawyers with a Disneyland of damning documents — or at least a detailed history of the events in the case well beyond what used to be available. But be careful. Electronic discovery has changed not just the rules of document production, but also how to use these materials when questioning and preparing witnesses. Here are some ideas on preparing for witness questioning….
Print This Post
Share This
