Re:23 Things Not To Write In An E-mail
by btilly on Wednesday June 16, 2010 @05:47PM
(#1437136)
You may not agree with it, but it is true. Email is far from perfect, but it is no worse than, for instance, a typewritten letter.
As for the other problems, they have a tried and true solution. You take the author of the putative email, sit them down in the witness box, and ask them point blank if they wrote said email. If they admit to it, it is now perfectly good solid legal evidence. If they say they did not, it now becomes a question about whether the witness is committing perjury. And given the email trail, and given what other witnesses have said, the truth does tend to out.
So, imperfections notwithstanding, every email you write could wind up in court. Furthermore, imperfections still notwithstanding, an email trail can easily become very valuable evidence. Particularly in civil trials where the standard of evidence is much lower.
As for the other problems, they have a tried and true solution. You take the author of the putative email, sit them down in the witness box, and ask them point blank if they wrote said email. If they admit to it, it is now perfectly good solid legal evidence. If they say they did not, it now becomes a question about whether the witness is committing perjury. And given the email trail, and given what other witnesses have said, the truth does tend to out.
So, imperfections notwithstanding, every email you write could wind up in court. Furthermore, imperfections still notwithstanding, an email trail can easily become very valuable evidence. Particularly in civil trials where the standard of evidence is much lower.