E-Discovery: Admissibility Of E-Mails Critical For Success On Summary Judgment

Lorraine v. Markel American Insurance Co.

Ensuring that e-mails are admissible as evidence in support of a motion for summary judgment may be vital to the success of the motion. In Lorraine v. Markel American Insurance Co., the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland denied Motions for Summary Judgment, without prejudice to re-file, based on each party's failure to ensure the admissibility of their proposed e-mail evidence in support of their petitions to enforce an arbitrator's award. Chief Magistrate Judge Paul W. Grimm's opinion provides a detailed and thoughtful approach to the necessity of ensuring that e-mails are admissible evidence for summary judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(e) as well as at trial. Whether Electronically Stored Information ("ESI") is admissible depends on an analysis of the applicability of a number of Federal Rules of Evidence: relevance (Rule 401),