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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    Live Online with Live Q&A

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

    Intermediate

  • work Practice Area

    Class Action and Other Litigation

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Tuesday, July 8, 2025

  • schedule Time

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

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

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

$297.00
CLE
ALL

This CLE webinar will offer guidance about how to handle emojis, emoticons, GIFs, memes, and other "picture" communications in litigation, including obtaining and authenticating them, demonstrating intent, and navigating hearsay, among many other substantive and evidentiary challenges. The panel will review how the way emojis are interpreted can support or undermine a case.

 

Faculty

Michael J. Slocum
Shareholder
Greenberg Traurig LLP

Mr. Slocum focuses his practice on labor and employment law, including the defense of discrimination, retaliation, wrongful discharge and whistleblower claims. He has represented employers in a broad array of industries, including healthcare and life sciences, pharmaceutical, private security, and retail, and has experience defending against both individual employee claims and class actions. Mr. Slocum has written and spoken numerous times on a multitude of issues facing employers in diverse industries.

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Description

A frequently repeated statistic is that 92% of people use emojis. Indeed, all text messaging systems offer a selection of emojis and GIFs as automated responses for that quick reply. The problem with emojis, emoticons, GIFs, memes, and other "pictures" is ambiguity and misunderstanding. Misinterpretation can be created by the software used to send and receive them as well as by hidden and secondary meanings to many pictures. Emojis and the platforms that support them are constantly being updated, so it is important to be certain that the emoji alleged to have been sent even existed at the time of an alleged message. Sometimes the recipient does not recognize the picture.

With 92% of the world using pictures to communicate or to provide context, both for personal and business purposes, litigation about the meaning of these "pictures" and their legal consequences is increasing in all kinds of civil (as well as many criminal) cases: securities fraud, employment discrimination and harassment, breach of contract, defamation, and many more. Clients are asking their attorneys whether they can rely on those types of communications, and whether liability exists for using or ignoring them. 

Litigators must understand all the different causes of the ambiguity; the challenges with searching for, obtaining, and authenticating these pictures; demonstrating intent and navigating hearsay; and many other substantive and evidentiary challenges. They also need to consider basic issues such as whether the judge or a jury interprets emojis and who would be qualified to provide an opinion as to what they are and what they mean.

Listen as this experienced panel discusses how to properly handle emojis in litigation that appear in texts, emails, work-chat apps, and more.

Outline

I. Defining emojis, emoticons, GIFs, memes, and other "picture" communications

II. Discovery and authentication

III. Interpreting emojis

A. Computer platform issues

B. Evolving and new emojis

C. Emoji dictionaries

D. Emoji experts

E. Subjective vs. objective meaning

F. Roles of judge and jury

IV. Illustrative cases across practice areas

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key questions:

  • How can someone search emails or texts for emojis?
  • Who or what decides standard definitions for emojis?
  • What are the hearsay issues with emojis?
  • Do emojis represent emotions or actions with legal consequences?