The Federal Rules of Evidence: A Comprehensive Guide

140 questions on the federal rules of evidence, answered and cited by the UpLaw editorial team.

• Are a company's internal emails admissible against the company at trial?
• Are public records and government reports admissible as an exception to the hearsay rule?
• Are statements made to a government regulator during settlement talks protected by Rule 408?
• Can a company officer testify about lost profits without being disclosed as an expert?
• Can a conviction more than ten years old be used to impeach a witness?
• Can a court take judicial notice of the facts stated in a public filing or a government website?
• Can a defendant's offer to pay someone's medical bills be used against it at trial?
• Can a federal court appoint its own expert witness?
• Can a judge require an offer of proof to be made in question-and-answer form?
• Can a juror testify about what happened during jury deliberations?
• Can a jury be told that a defendant carries liability insurance?
• Can a jury hear the inadmissible material an expert relied on in forming an opinion?
• Can an appellate court fix an evidentiary error that was never objected to?
• Can an expert testify about a criminal defendant's mental state?
• Can an expert testify about an ultimate issue in the case?
• Can a party impeach its own witness?
• Can you use extrinsic evidence to prove a witness lied about something in the past?
• Does an expert have to disclose the basis for an opinion before giving it?
• Does a state Dead Man's Statute apply in federal court?
• Does a witness have to swear on a Bible to testify in federal court?
• Does producing one privileged document waive privilege over the whole subject matter?
• Does satisfying a hearsay exception make evidence admissible against a criminal defendant?
• Does the attorney-client privilege protect communications with lower-level employees of a corporation?
• Does the Confrontation Clause limit what an expert can tell a jury in a criminal case?
• Does the Daubert gatekeeping requirement apply to non-scientific experts?
• Do state courts follow Rule 407 on subsequent remedial measures?
• Do the Advisory Committee Notes to the Federal Rules of Evidence carry authority?
• Do the Federal Rules of Evidence apply at every stage of a federal case?
• Do the states follow the Federal Rules of Evidence?
• Do you have to renew an objection at trial after losing a motion in limine?
• How are the Federal Rules of Evidence organized by article?
• How do courts analyze evidence of other similar incidents in a product liability case?
• How does a court decide whether a coconspirator's statement is admissible?
• How does a court keep a jury from hearing evidence that has been ruled inadmissible?
• How does a Rule 902(11) certification let you admit business records without a live custodian?
• How do you authenticate a database export, an automated log, or surveillance video?
• How do you authenticate an email or a text message at trial?
• How do you get a website screenshot or an archived web page into evidence?
• How do you keep a business record out even though it satisfies the Rule 803(6) foundation?
• How do you prove a witness is biased, and can you use extrinsic evidence?
• How many instances does it take to establish a habit or routine practice under Rule 406?
• How may character be proved when it is admissible — reputation, opinion, or specific acts?
• How much proof that the other act actually happened does Rule 404(b) require?
• In what order should a lawyer analyze an objection to a piece of evidence?
• Is a company's internal investigation report privileged?
• Is all relevant evidence admissible in federal court?
• Is a machine reading, a timestamp, or a GPS log hearsay?
• Is a photocopy, a scan, or a screenshot admissible instead of the original document?
• Is character evidence ever admissible in a civil case?
• Is it still safe to argue that an expert's weaknesses “go to weight, not admissibility”?
• Is “me too” evidence from other employees admissible in a discrimination case?
• Is the list of permitted purposes in Rule 404(b)(2) a menu of magic words?
• Is there an accountant-client privilege or a self-evaluation privilege in federal court?
• Is there any exception to the no-impeachment rule for juror racial bias?
• What are the Daubert factors for assessing the reliability of expert testimony?
• What are the Federal Rules of Evidence?
• What are the main hearsay exceptions under Rule 803 that apply regardless of the declarant's availability?
• What are the ways to authenticate evidence under Rule 901(b)?
• What are the ways to impeach a witness in federal court?
• What control does a trial judge have over the examination of witnesses under Rule 611?
• What counts as “unfair prejudice” under Rule 403?
• What did Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals hold?
• What did General Electric Co. v. Joiner hold about an expert's conclusions?
• What did Old Chief v. United States hold about stipulations and Rule 403?
• What does Federal Rule of Evidence 407 exclude, and does it apply in product liability cases?
• What does Federal Rule of Evidence 408 keep out of evidence?
• What does Federal Rule of Evidence 702 require after the 2023 amendment?
• What does it mean for an evidentiary error to affect a substantial right?
• What does it take to authenticate a piece of evidence under Rule 901?
• What does Rule 410 protect, and can a defendant waive it?
• What does Rule 608 allow about a witness's character for truthfulness?
• What does Rule 701(c) prevent, and why was it added?
• What does the personal knowledge requirement of Rule 602 require?
• What does the state-of-mind hearsay exception in Rule 803(3) cover, and what does it exclude?
• What do Federal Rules of Evidence 412 through 415 do?
• What do Rules 902(13) and 902(14) do for electronic evidence?
• What do you have to do to preserve an evidentiary error for appeal?
• What evidence is self-authenticating under Rule 902?
• What happens if a criminal defendant loses a motion to exclude a prior conviction and then does not testify?
• What happens if privileged documents are produced by mistake in discovery?
• What happens if you object at trial on the wrong ground?
• What happens on appeal if a party's expert testimony was wrongly admitted at trial?
• What happens when a document contains hearsay inside hearsay?
• What happens when a lawyer uses a document to refresh a witness's memory on the stand?
• What is a limiting instruction under Federal Rule of Evidence 105?
• What is an offer of proof, and how do you make one?
• What is an opposing party's statement, and why is Rule 801(d)(2) so important?
• What is a Rule 1006 summary, and what did the 2024 amendment change?
• What is a Rule 502(d) order, and why should every case have one?
• What is a statement against interest, and how narrow did Williamson make it?
• What is conditional relevance under Federal Rule of Evidence 104(b)?
• What is forfeiture by wrongdoing under Rule 804(b)(6)?
• What is habit evidence under Federal Rule of Evidence 406?
• What is harmless error in the context of evidentiary rulings?
• What is hearsay under the Federal Rules of Evidence?
• What is judicial notice, and what facts can a court judicially notice?
• What is Rule 107, and how does an illustrative aid differ from a summary exhibit?
• What is Rule 404(b) other-acts evidence?
• What is the best evidence rule, and when does it actually apply?
• What is the character evidence rule under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(a)?
• What is the difference between habit evidence and inadmissible character evidence?
• What is the effect of a presumption in a federal civil case?
• What is the effect of judicial notice on the jury in a civil case versus a criminal case?
• What is the foundation for a business record under Rule 803(6)?
• What is the permissible scope of cross-examination in federal court?
• What is the procedure for impeaching a witness with a prior inconsistent statement?
• What is the residual hearsay exception in Rule 807?
• What is the Rule 403 balancing test?
• What is the rule of completeness, and what did the 2023 amendment to Rule 106 change?
• What is the standard four-step analysis courts apply to Rule 404(b) evidence?
• What is the standard of review for a Rule 403 ruling on appeal?
• What is witness sequestration under Rule 615, and what did the 2023 amendment change?
• What law governs privilege in a federal case?
• What makes evidence relevant under Federal Rule of Evidence 401?
• What makes something not hearsay even though it was said out of court?
• What may an expert base an opinion on under Rule 703?
• What notice must a prosecutor give before offering other-acts evidence under Rule 404(b)?
• What timing rule applies to prior consistent statements offered to rebut a charge of fabrication?
• When are leading questions allowed at trial?
• When can an ordinary witness give an opinion at trial?
• When can a witness be impeached with a prior criminal conviction under Rule 609?
• When can evidence of a post-accident repair or redesign come in despite Rule 407?
• When is a motion in limine ruling definitive enough that you do not have to object again at trial?
• When is an original document not required at all?
• When is a prior inconsistent statement substantive evidence rather than just impeachment?
• When is a witness's prior statement admissible as substantive evidence under Rule 801(d)(1)?
• When is settlement negotiation evidence admissible despite Rule 408?
• When may a criminal defendant offer character evidence about himself or the victim?
• Which Federal Rules of Evidence use a reverse Rule 403 balance?
• Which federal-state evidence divergences matter most before a state-court trial?
• Which hearsay exceptions require the declarant to be unavailable?
• Which law governs the effect of a presumption on a state-law claim in federal court?
• Which privileges do federal courts recognize under Rule 501?
• Who decides whether a document is really the original — the judge or the jury?
• Who decides whether evidence is admissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 104(a)?
• Who has the burden of proving that expert testimony is admissible, and by what standard?
• Who is competent to be a witness in federal court?
• Whose privilege law applies when a federal case has both federal and state-law claims?
• Why does a bare “objection, relevance” almost never succeed?
• Why do Rules 407 through 411 exclude evidence that is often highly probative?