Attorney Digital Evidence Checklist

A pre-engagement checklist for attorneys and paralegals to preserve, scope, and authenticate digital evidence before it's lost or rendered inadmissible.

What's in this checklist

A pre-engagement checklist to make sure nothing is overlooked before evidence is lost, spoliated, or rendered inadmissible.

Preview · Section 1

Preservation (do this first, even before retaining an expert)

Send preservation letters to all opposing parties identifying specific custodians, devices, and accounts.
Issue a litigation hold to your client covering email, text messages, cloud storage, social media, collaboration tools (Slack, Teams), and any work-issued or BYOD devices.
Identify auto-delete settings (email retention, Slack message retention, ephemeral apps) and disable them in writing.

▣ 20 more items, 4 more sections

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Section 1

Section 1: Preservation (do this first, even before retaining an expert)

Send preservation letters to all opposing parties identifying specific custodians, devices, and accounts.
Issue a litigation hold to your client covering email, text messages, cloud storage, social media, collaboration tools (Slack, Teams), and any work-issued or BYOD devices.
Identify auto-delete settings (email retention, Slack message retention, ephemeral apps) and disable them in writing.
Document the chain of custody from the moment any device or media is collected: date, time, who handled it, and where it was stored.
Photograph devices in their original state before powering them off or moving them.

Section 2

Section 2: Scoping the evidence

List every custodian whose data is potentially relevant.
List every device, account, and platform per custodian (work phone, personal phone, laptop, iCloud, Gmail, Dropbox, work Microsoft 365, etc.).
Identify the date range that is actually relevant to the matter. Overly broad scopes drive cost without adding value.
Identify any encryption, MDM, or remote-wipe risk (corporate iPhones can be wiped by the employer after termination).
Confirm whether any data lives only with a third party (cloud provider, employer, ISP) and may require a subpoena or preservation request to that party.

Section 3

Section 3: Before you retain an expert

Confirm the expert is court-qualified in the relevant jurisdiction and has never been disqualified.
Confirm their methodology is peer-reviewed and Daubert/Frye defensible.
Confirm they carry professional liability insurance.
Confirm certifications relevant to the evidence type (Cellebrite, Magnet, EnCase, GIAC).
Get a written engagement scope, hourly rate, and estimated budget before work begins.

Section 4

Section 4: During the engagement

Require write-blocked, forensically sound acquisition, never analysis on the live device.
Require hash values (MD5 or SHA-256) for every acquisition and verify the hash matches at every transfer.
Ensure the expert's working copy is separate from the original evidence.
Get interim updates in writing, not just verbally.

Section 5

Section 5: Before producing or relying on findings

Confirm every assertion in the expert report is supported by an exhibit or extracted artifact.
Confirm the report identifies tool versions, dates of analysis, and any limitations of the analysis.
Have the expert walk you through the strongest opposing argument before opposing counsel does.
Confirm metadata is preserved in any production. Printing screenshots strips it.