Legal Question in Technology Law in California

Re: legal documents

I'm not sure what you mean by "legal document." My guess is you are asking if it can be used as evidence, and the answer is that it will be treated the same way as any other document.

Whether it is admissible will depend upon what it is offered to prove and on a variety of other issues, but the same is true of any kind of document. The fact that a particular item of evidence is a printout of what originally appeared on a computer screen won't make a difference as long as the printout is accurate.

Re: legal documents

Anything can be a "legal document" in court. What you are really asking is whether the document is "admissible", i.e., whether it can be admitted into evidence and considered by a judge or jury.

That will depend upon whether a proper foundation can be laid to guarantee the authenticity of the document(s).

It sounds like you need to have a discussion with an attorney to determine whether the document is potentially admissible and about your case.

I would be happy to discuss this with you via chat session. Go to my website www.legalwarriors.com and click on the button to chat with me.

J. Caleb Donner, DONNER & DONNER - LEGAL WARRRIORS� - Chat with an attorney online - 325 E. Hillcrest Drive, Suite 242 Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 Tel: 805-494-6557 Fax: 805-494-0990 email: [email protected] website: www.legalwarriors.com

DISCLAIMER This reply constitutes legal information for education purposes and does NOT constitute legal advice nor establish an attorney-client relationship. We will only represent you based on a written retainer agreement. Therefore, you should contact this office to discuss representation if you do want legal advice/representation.

Re: legal documents

A print-out of e-mail is a document, and they can be (and frequently are) introduced as evidence in court.

As the prior answers have pointed out, the expression "legal document" doesn't have a specific meaning to lawyers or judges. Sometimes it might mean "not illegal" in the sense that a bookie's records or counterfeit bills might be "illegal documents," or it could mean everything bearing on a particular legal matter, as when a lawyer says to a prospective client "Bring all your legal documents to our initial consultation," or it could have the meaning given the word "writing" by Evidence Code section 250, or it could mean "admissible in evidence," or it could mean "instruments having special legal significance" such as deeds, wills, mortgages, promissory notes, etc.

The print-out of e-mails will be admissible, generally speaking, if it is relevant to an issue in the litigation, not hearsay, and can be authenticated (which is usually pretty easy). Portions of the print-out or perhaps the whole thing could be subject to motions to strike on various grounds (hearsay, privacy, relevance, and on and on).