Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%

Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.

Vanity of the Bonfires: Spoliation of Evidence

By Timothy M. Tippins
December 31, 2013

How do you know when an expert witness is getting ready to testify? By the bonfire in his backyard! Upon his conviction for Watergate-related activities, John Ehrlichman, Richard Nixon's Domestic Policy Adviser, famously said, “As a matter of historical perspective, you can make a pretty good argument that a bonfire on the South Lawn wouldn't have been a bad idea.” Gettysburg Times, 01-02-75, p.1, col. 2. One relatively recent appellate-level decision seems to carry a similar message to forensic custody evaluators.

A Paragon of Terseness

Read These Next
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later Image

The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.

Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations Image

This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.

The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs Image

The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.

CLE Shouldn't Be the Only Mandatory Training for Attorneys Image

Each stage of an attorney's career offers opportunities for a curriculum that addresses both the individual's and the firm's need to drive success.

A defendant in a patent infringement suit may, during discovery and prior to a <i>Markman</i> hearing, compel the plaintiff to produce claim charts, claim constructions, and element-by-element infringement analyses.