Back in the good old days, electronic evidence for civil cases could begathered from a custodian’s computer, processed to TIFF, Bates numbered andintroduced into evidence. Concerns over chain of custody and authenticity weretalked about, but rarely argued in the courtroom.�
For example, if a document was found on a computer that belonged to me, therewas a practice of everyone accepting that it was a document under my control.While I might not have created it, I put it on my computer or allowed it to beput on my computer. Also, the document would be assumed to be what it purportedto be, modified at the “last modified” date and time. At most, questionswould be asked at deposition time about who else had access to the computerwith administrative privileges or whether I made it a practice of sharing mypassword.
