Also known as:business entry exception · business records exception
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A hearsay exception that permits the admission of a record of an act, event, condition, opinion, or diagnosis. The record must have been made at or near the time by or from information transmitted by someone with knowledge, kept in the course of a regularly conducted business activity, and made as a regular practice of that activity.
Sources & Authorities
How it applies
Common Examples
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Accident Report Prepared for Litigation
Boreal Energy's safety officer compiled an internal report detailing a derailment at one of its rail yards. The report followed the company's standard form and was completed the day after the incident. When a worker later sued for injuries, Boreal sought to introduce the report to show the cause of the accident. The court excluded the document because the primary purpose of the report was to prepare for potential litigation rather than to document ordinary business operations.
Third-Party Statement in Police Report
After a collision involving a Bright Path Foods delivery truck, an officer interviewed a bystander who had no connection to the company. The officer recorded the bystander's account in the official accident report. At trial Bright Path offered the report under the business-entry exception to prove the bystander's version of events. The court ruled the entry inadmissible because the bystander was under no business duty to supply the information.
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Cases
Study Supplements
Common questions
Frequently Asked
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When does preparation of a record in anticipation of litigation prevent use of the business-entry exception?+
A record loses the protection of the exception when its primary purpose is to prepare for litigation rather than to document the regular conduct of the enterprise. Courts examine whether the business's ordinary operations or the prospect of suit drove creation of the document.
May a business record contain statements from a person who had no duty to report the information?+
No. The exception requires that any informant supplying information to the recorder must have been acting under a business duty to convey accurate facts. Statements from outsiders lacking that duty remain inadmissible hearsay even if embedded in an otherwise qualifying record.
What foundational elements must be shown to admit a record under the business-entry exception?+
The proponent must establish that the record was made at or near the time of the event by or from a person with knowledge, that it was kept in the course of regularly conducted business activity, and that making such a record was the regular practice of that activity.
567 U.S. 50 (2012)Evidence
…would entitle the defendant to Confrontation Clause protection. Cf. 2 Wigmore, Evidence §1527, at 1892 (in respect to the business records exception, “there must have been no motive to misrepresent”). Thus, the defendant would remain free to show the absence or inadequacy of the alternative reliability/honesty safeguards, thereby…