Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An element of the hearsay exception for records of regularly conducted activity requiring that a record be maintained as part of the ordinary operations of a business, organization, occupation, or calling, whether or not for profit.
Sources & Authorities
How it applies
Common Examples
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Customer Service Logs in Telecom Suit
Ridgeway Partners maintained detailed call logs for its thousands of subscribers through an automated system that captured entries in real time during ordinary business operations. Rachel Ramirez sued the company over disputed billing and objected when the logs were offered to show the timing of her service complaints. The court admitted the logs because the entries were created and stored as part of the firm's standard customer-service routine serving its regular clientele.
Laboratory Reports in Criminal Prosecution
A certified laboratory produced DNA analysis reports as part of its routine casework for law-enforcement agencies. Raphael Rivera was prosecuted for a sexual offense and the state offered the reports to establish a match. The reports qualified because analysts prepared them in the ordinary course of the laboratory's regularly conducted professional activity without knowledge of any particular defendant's identity.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Federal Rules
Study Supplements
Williams v. Illinois567 U.S. 50 (2012)
Aircraft Maintenance Records in Product Case
Radiant Technologies kept detailed maintenance and inspection logs for its aircraft components as part of its standard manufacturing and quality-control processes. Rosalind Reed sued after a crash and offered the logs to prove the condition of a part at the time of sale. The logs satisfied the requirement because they were created and retained in the ordinary course of the company's regularly conducted business activity.
Beech Aircraft Corp. v. Rainey499 U.S. 153 (1988)
Common questions
Frequently Asked
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What must be shown to establish that a record was kept in the course of a regularly conducted activity?+
The proponent must demonstrate through a custodian or qualified witness that the record was generated and stored as part of the entity's ordinary, ongoing operations rather than as an isolated or litigation-driven task. Routine integration into daily business functions supplies the necessary foundation. Post-complaint alterations or selective editing after litigation becomes foreseeable can undermine this showing even if the underlying system is routine.
Supporting sources
Does the regularly conducted activity element apply only to for-profit businesses?+
No. The element expressly covers records kept in the course of a regularly conducted activity of a business, organization, occupation, or calling, whether or not for profit. Nonprofit entities that maintain donor databases, grant ledgers, and board summaries in the ordinary course of their grant-administration work therefore satisfy the requirement when the other foundational elements are met.
Supporting sources
How does the regularly conducted activity element interact with the trustworthiness requirement?+
A record kept in the course of a regularly conducted activity is presumed reliable because businesses depend on accurate records for ongoing operations. When an opponent shows that the source of information or the method or circumstances of preparation indicate a lack of trustworthiness, such as selective post-complaint edits, the record may still be excluded even if the regularly conducted activity element is otherwise satisfied.
Supporting sources
567 U.S. 50 (2012)Evidence
…exception that has constituted an important part of the law of evidence for decades. See Fed. Rule Evid. 803(6) (“Records of Regularly Conducted Activity”); 2 J. Wigmore, Evidence §§1517–1533, pp. 1878–1899 (1904) (“Regular Entries”). And for somewhat similar reasons, I believe that such statements also presumptively fall outside the…