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Using electronic methods has broadened the way attorneys get information for divorce proceedings, said. Jeffrey P. Wasserman, the head of the Shapiro, Blasi, Wasserman & Gora P.A. Family Law Practice Group in Florida. “It’s expanded the way we get evidence,” said Wasserman, who also serves on the Florida Bar Family Law Rules Committee.
And the practice of using electronic methods to find information about spouses is becoming as common as divorce itself, Wasserman said. “I’m seeing it more and more frequently,” Wasserman said. “We’re in the age of electronic communication, more than the drum beats and smoke signals of past centuries.”
Although everyone seems to be well versed in the use of cell phones, computers and the like for gathering evidence, Wasserman cautions that there are legalities of which everyone must be aware. The attorneys must understand the wiretapping and electronic copying statutes in their states The clients collecting information surreptitiously must also understand that in some states, what they are doing is illegal.
For example, Florida is one of 12 states in which it is illegal to record conversations if both parties are not aware of the recording. “Often, a client says they recorded something. I always tell them, ‘Not only do I not want to know about it, I can’t have a copy of it.’”
In situations like the one Wasserman describes, an attorney can be considered legally liable for participating in illegal activity. But generally, Wasserman said, technology has allowed attorneys to find more information in an easier way. For example, instead of waiting weeks for bank records, clients can print them directly from their banking Web sites. “Clients can get right into private accounts and download everything,” Wasserman said.
TECHNOLOGY MAKES IT EASY
Another attorney echoed the opinion that technology has made it easier to get information for divorce proceedings. Nancy Chemtob, matrimonial lawyer and founding partner of
Chemtob Moss Forman & Talbert, LLP, in New York City, said the use of electronic records has completely changed the landscape of matrimonial law. Her clients used to come in with stacks of phone bills or restaurant receipts.
“Now it’s something as easy as a spouse sitting down at a computer getting an instant message,” Chemtob said.
She said technology has helped her clients find out their spouses are having extramarital affairs or visiting pornography sites on the Internet. One client found out her husband was homosexual after figuring out that he was surfing gay porn on the Internet. “So now all this information that was private is now public in the marital domain,” Chemtob said.
Her clients are bringing more information as ammunition to the divorce process. That information, if not admissible in court, becomes leverage in negotiations, she said. “Sometimes we don’t admit information, but we have it,” Chemtob said. “And knowledge is power.
She said she foresees no end in sight to the ways electronics can be used to collect information. But, to Chemtob, the future is the issue is plain. “I think the future of it is: Blackberry-user beware,” she said.
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Michele Bush Kimball has a Ph.D. in mass communication with a specialization in media law. She has spent almost 15 years in journalism and teaches at American University in Washington, D.C. She recently won a national research award for her work. 
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