BarbriSFCourseDetails
  • videocam On-Demand Webinar
  • signal_cellular_alt Intermediate
  • card_travel Family Law
  • schedule 90 minutes

Evidentiary Challenges in Divorce Cases: From Writings and Photos to Text Messages and Social Media

Authenticating, Admitting, and Objecting to Admission of Evidence and Testimony

$197.00

This course is $0 with these passes:

CLE
ALL
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About the Course

Introduction

This CLE webinar will provide family law counsel with approaches for defending the admissibility of evidence in divorce cases. The panel will discuss laying the foundation for exhibits; reviewing, authenticating, and introducing different types of evidence; and ways to restrict evidence and testimony.

Description

Knowing the intricacies of the rules of evidence is a must for family law practitioners to achieve a successful result in any contested court proceeding. Counsel must properly lay the foundation for and correctly introduce evidence in divorce cases. With personal information about parties available via an ever-expanding number of social networking sites and new methods of communication, counsel faces evolving demands.

Practitioners must utilize proper procedures for authenticating and admitting exhibits, from writings and photos to emails, text messages, websites, and social media. Counsel should develop practical approaches for restricting improper evidence, making proper objections, and setting forth offers of proof.

Listen as our panel of family law practitioners discusses best practices to prepare evidence for admission at trial and outlines strategies for restricting improper evidence. The panel will offer their insights into making proper objections and offers of proof.

Presented By

Madison H. Boland
Partner
Beermann, LLP

Ms. Boland is family law attorney with over a decade of experience who brings a strategic, tailored, and pragmatic approach to every case she handles. She represents clients in all aspects of family law, including complex financial matters, parenting disputes, maintenance issues, and post-decree proceedings. A significant portion of Ms. Boland's work involves high-net-worth and complex marital estates. She is exceptionally skilled with financial analysis, business valuations, and asset tracing, and is frequently called upon to address matters involving trusts, closely held businesses, and sophisticated compensation structures. Ms. Boland's sharp command of numbers and her innovative, forward-thinking strategies make her a trusted advocate for clients navigating complicated financial landscapes.

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Kellam T. Parks
Managing Member
Parks Zeigler, PLLC

Mr. Parks is a managing member of Parks Zeigler, PLLC, headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia, which is a paperless, technologically driven law practice with three offices across Virginia and North Carolina. He obtained his B.A. in Philosophy with Honors, Summa Cum Laude from St. Andrews University in North Carolina and earned his J.D. from William & Mary Law School. Mr. Parks is a Tidewater native and has been practicing there for over 25 years. He is active with the Virginia State Bar and is the former chair of the Special Committee on Technology and the Future Practice of Law Technology. Mr. Parks is also a member of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, where he sits on the Family Law Section Board, the Virginia Beach Bar Association, and the Norfolk/Portsmouth Bar Association, where he served as president from 2023-2024. He frequently writes and speaks about cybersecurity/data privacy, the modernization & use of technology in the practice of law, including such topics as AI, ethics, electronically stored information, and practice management/marketing.

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Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.


  • Live Online


    On Demand

Date + Time

  • event

    Thursday, January 22, 2026

  • schedule

    1:00 p.m. ET/10:00 a.m. PT

I. Cornerstone of all evidence: relevance, reliability, and authenticity

II. Proper procedures for authenticating and admitting exhibits

A. Writings

B. Photographs

C. Emails

D. Text messages

E. Websites, including social media

F. Business records

III. Proper testimony: when may a lay witness testify to opinions or conclusions?

IV. Original evidence rule and when it applies

V. How to properly admit a summary

VI. Effective use of demonstrative exhibits

VII. The hearsay rule and common exceptions used in a family law case

The panel will review these and other key issues:

  • The proper procedure for authenticating and admitting different types of exhibits
  • When a lay witness can testify to opinions or conclusions and when not
  • Common exceptions to the hearsay rule in a family law case
  • The original evidence rule and when it applies
  • Unique challenges and solutions to introducing and authenticating electronic evidence