Solo attorneys & small law firms
Authenticate the exhibit before opposing counsel asks you to.
When a screenshot, a message thread, or a downloaded file becomes an exhibit, the questions are the same: where did it come from, who has held it, and is it still the item you received. CustodyTrack answers all three with a dated, signed, independently verifiable record.
Solo practitioners, small litigation firms, and the paralegals who assemble their exhibits.
The problem
Where the custody record comes apart.
The exhibit arrives with no history
A client forwards a screenshot. An investigator drops a folder in shared storage. By the time the item is marked for a deposition, nobody has written down where it came from, who has touched it, or whether it is still the same file.
Authentication is a foundation problem
Rule 901 asks for evidence sufficient to support a finding that the item is what you say it is, and Rule 902(14) offers a certification route for electronic data that turns on a comparable digest. Both want a record made before the dispute, not an account assembled after it.
You are the whole litigation-support department
A large firm has a litigation-support team for this. A solo practice has a laptop, a scanner, and a deposition on Thursday — carrying an identical evidentiary burden with none of the staffing.
Per-seat platforms are priced for someone else
Evidence software sold on annual per-seat licences assumes a review team and a rolling docket. It makes no sense for four exhibits in one matter.
Where it fits
Three points in work you already do.
Receive
Log the item the day it arrives — from the client, an investigator, or a subpoena return — with what matters later: who provided it, when, in what form, and its digest as received.
Hand off
Send it to co-counsel, a testifying expert, or a vendor. They sign for it, and the acknowledgement lands in the record itself rather than in an email thread nobody can find.
Produce
Export a tamper-evident PDF for the exhibit binder, and give opposing counsel or the court a verification code anyone can check without seeing the underlying file.
The terms this record uses
- FRE 901
- FRE 902(14)
- Exhibit foundation
- Custodian declaration
- Deposition exhibits
- Motion in limine
- Discovery production
- Opposing expert
What you can stand behind
Claims that survive being tested.
Framed around the authentication rules
The record is designed to support admissibility by documenting exactly what Rule 901 asks about — origin, handling, and integrity over time. Admissibility itself rests with the court and the rules of evidence in your forum.
A digest comparison you can describe in a certification
Each form records the digest of the item as received and re-computes it on demand, which is the comparison a Rule 902(14) certification rests on. Whether a certification is accepted remains the court's call.
Verification your opponent runs themselves
Hand over the verification code. The other side confirms the record is intact directly, at no cost and without an account — a shorter conversation than arranging a custodian declaration.
Priced per exhibit, not per seat
$4.99 for a single form, with the credit good until you use it, or a monthly plan when a matter runs long. Transfers and verifications are unlimited and free on every plan.
Start from the right form
The templates this work needs.
The exhibits that actually turn up in a small-firm matter: a message thread, a social post, a captured web page, and a mailbox export.
Messaging apps
One WhatsApp account: an in-app chat export, an iCloud/Drive backup, or a device extraction.
Cloud & online
Social media
Any other platform — Facebook, X, LinkedIn, TikTok, Reddit — profile, posts, or account download.
Cloud & online
Website / web page
A public page or site as it stood at a moment in time — WARC, MHTML, or screenshots.
Cloud & online
Email / mailbox
A single mailbox and its contents, as a PST, MBOX, or EML set — one custodian, not a tenant.
All twelve templates are available on every plan — see the full set.
Common questions
- Does this make my evidence admissible?
- No tool can. CustodyTrack documents origin, handling, and integrity — the record that supports authentication under Rule 901 — and admissibility is decided by the court on the facts of the case.
- Do I have to upload the file itself?
- No. You record a digest of the item along with the custody details. The file stays wherever you keep it; the service holds the fingerprint, never the contents.
- What does opposing counsel see when they verify?
- That the form and its transfer history are authentic and unaltered. Verification confirms integrity without disclosing the evidence description or the matter behind it.
What it costs
$4.99 per Authenticated Chain of Custody Form, or a monthly plan for regular volume. Transfers and verifications are unlimited and free on every plan, and the party receiving a transfer never pays anything.
Other work looks different? See the other three.
Start with the exhibit already on your desk.
Two Authenticated Chain of Custody Forms free at signup, then $4.99 each. No subscription required.