Evidence Preservation
Emergency Checklist
What to document, secure, and protect in the first 24 hours of a legal situation. Because what you do in the first day determines what you have for the rest of the case.
Anyone who has just received legal notice, been served with a complaint, been fired under circumstances that feel wrong, witnessed something that may become a legal matter, or simply knows a dispute is coming. The first 24 hours are when most evidence disappears, and most people spend those hours waiting.
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Screenshots, metadata, email headers, cloud accounts, and timestamp preservation before platforms auto-delete or access is cut.
How to photograph, label, and store physical evidence correctly. What not to touch, clean, or move before documentation.
Identifying and capturing witness information without contaminating accounts. Who counts as a witness that you might not realize is one.
Texts, emails, voicemails, caller ID records, and how to create a timestamped contemporaneous memo for conversations that were not recorded.
The six most common evidence-destroying mistakes people make in the first 24 hours. Each one has ended cases before they started. This section alone is worth keeping.
One page. Fits in a folder, a glove compartment, or a phone screenshot.
Print it before you need it.
Investigative Analyst, Major Case Unit. MS in Criminal Justice, Purdue Global. Twelve years of federal program analysis at the Defense Logistics Agency. Founder of Clutch Justice, an independent investigative accountability platform covering Michigan courts, judicial conduct, and institutional forensics. This checklist reflects what gets missed in real legal situations, not what textbooks say should happen.
This checklist is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For legal advice specific to your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction.