The Summer issue of the American Bar Association’s Technology for the Litigator newsletter is out, and includes an in-depth article from Nextpoint about social media discovery. The article, Avoiding Costly Mistakes in Social Media Discovery runs through the most important recent case law in social media eDiscovery, illustrating the most vital lessons for litigators facing social media evidence in a matter. We recommend reading the whole thing, but if you want the short version, we remind social media savvy lawyers that:
Screenshots of social media are not sufficient. Social media files consist of more than just posts.
Metadata are also an important part of the social media record and have proven to be instrumental to establish authentication and admissibility.
Discovery requests should never require password exchanges or third-party access.
The unique public or semi-public nature of social media also means data can be collected without formal discovery.
Read the whole thing for the important details. We are thrilled that the American Bar Association Section of Litigation sought us out to provide this important information to its members. The ABA is the largest professional association in the world, and Nextpoint is a proud supporter of the organization’s mission to continually improve the standard of care its members provide to their clients.