E(vidence)-Mail

Today, it was in the news that Prosecutors Build Bear Stearns Case on E-Mails. I have heard that litigators like joke that "e-mail" stands for "evidence-mail". A few years ago, there was a lot of hype when a judge subpoenaed Google to turn over the complete contents of a Gmail account including deleted e-mails that were still stored on the servers. In this new case, the accounts used were not Gmail accounts; e-mails can be received no matter what service you use.

The e-mail exchanges in question discussed the clear signs of their largest hedge funds being in trouble, yet admitted to conning more people to invest in them. As a result, Ralph R. Cioffi and Matthew M. Tannin may suffer jail time in a federal prison.

Of course, the issue here isn't that they were saying it over e-mail. The problem is that they knowingly misled people; the e-mail simply is the proof of it. It doesn't mean you should be paranoid of using your e-amil though. This proof can also help you in a positive way. You can use e-mail as an easy way to document conversations with clients or a boss. After a face-to-face meeting, it can be a good idea to write a summary and e-mail it to all involved to get them to sign off on the notes of what happened.

On the other side, the Separated Parenting Access & Resource Center recommends that in a separation with a spouse, to always remain courteous in your e-mails to your spouse and write them as if a judge would read them. E-mails in these situations have been known to be "used to show your ex's unwillingness to cooperate, [his or] her disregard of court orders or personal agreements, [his or] her inability to collaborate on behalf or the child, and other relevant issues."

In general, you don't have to feel like Big Brother is constantly reading over your shoulder and overlooking your e-mails, but know that if a situation comes up, they do count as evidence either for or against you.