Nation's Top Divorce Lawyers Note Dramatic Rise in Electronic Evidence

Posted on February 29, 2008 by Shannon Cavers

According to data collected by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML), 88% of the country’s divorce lawyers cite an increase in the number of contested divorce cases using electronic data as evidence in the past 5 years. 

Though e-mail is the most frequently used form of electronic evidence, other forms of data used in divorce proceedings includes text messages, instant messages (IM), internet browser history, social networking site information, photos from camera phones, toll tag, and data from vehicle and stand alone GPS devices. 

Technology has become so ingrained in our daily lives that it follows us to the courthouse in family matters.

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Technology Transforms Evidence in Divorce Cases

Posted on September 21, 2007 by Shannon Cavers

The Family Law Professor Blog posted a timely story regarding the changing face of evidence in the world of matrimonial litigation.  While many people engage in such "surveillance," remember that many of these tactics may violate federal wiretapping law and state statute.

"The age-old business of breaking up has taken a decidedly Orwellian turn, with digital evidence like e-mail messages, traces of Web site visits and mobile telephone records now permeating many contentious divorce cases.

Spurned lovers steal each other’s BlackBerrys. Suspicious spouses hack into each other’s e-mail accounts. They load surveillance software onto the family PC, sometimes discovering shocking infidelities.

Divorce lawyers routinely set out to find every bit of private data about their clients’ adversaries, often hiring investigators with sophisticated digital forensic tools to snoop into household computers.

“In just about every case now, to some extent, there is some electronic evidence,” said Gaetano Ferro, president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, who also runs seminars on gathering electronic evidence. “It has completely changed our field.”"

By Brad Stone, N.Y. Times Link to Article (last visited 9-19-07 NVS)

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