Spoliation

Spoliation is the loss, destruction, alteration, or failure to preserve evidence — including records — that is relevant to reasonably anticipated or active litigation. It occurs when an organization that had a duty to preserve relevant records fails to do so, whether through deliberate destruction or simply by letting routine deletion continue after a litigation hold should have been applied.

Courts treat spoliation seriously and can impose sanctions ranging from monetary penalties to an “adverse inference” instruction (telling the jury it may assume the lost evidence was unfavorable) to, in extreme cases, default judgment. Avoiding spoliation is the central reason litigation holds exist and a key driver of defensible disposition: an organization must be able to suspend destruction reliably the moment a preservation duty arises.