MBE Rules · Evidence
Summaries of Voluminous Records
FRE 1006
The rule
Voluminous writings that cannot conveniently be examined in court may be proved by summary, chart, or calculation, provided the underlying originals are made available to other parties.
In plain English
When there are large amounts of documents that are too cumbersome to review in court, a summary, chart, or calculation can be used to present the information. However, the original documents must still be accessible to the other parties involved in the case.
Worked example
In a fraud case, the prosecution has thousands of bank statements that detail the defendant's transactions. Instead of presenting each statement in court, they create a summary chart that highlights key transactions. The court allows the use of the chart as long as the original bank statements are available for the defense to review.
Memory hook
When records are too bulky, let a summary do the talking—just keep the originals handy!
The trap
Exams may present scenarios where students overlook the requirement that originals must be available, leading to confusion about admissibility.
How examiners test it
Questions often involve fact patterns with extensive documents, testing whether students recognize the need for summaries and the availability of originals.
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