Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Spoliation — Just When Is Litigation “Reasonably Anticipated,” Triggering the Duty to Preserve Evidence?

From Dong Ah Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. v. Glasforms, Inc., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 62668 (N.D. Cal. July 2, 2009):

The Ninth Circuit has not expressly defined the term "anticipated litigation," Hynix Semiconductor Inc. v. Rambus, Inc., No. C-00-20905 RMW, 2006 WL 565893, at * 21, 24 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 5, 2006), and trial courts have crafted various formulations of when a party "should know" that the evidence may be relevant to future litigation. Napster, 462 F. Supp. 2d at 1068; World Courier, 2007 WL 1119196, at *1; see Hynix Semiconductor Inc. v. Rambus, Inc. , 591 F. Supp. 2d 1038, 1061 (N.D. Cal. 2006) (determining that future litigation is probable when it is "more than a possibility"); Ameripride Servs., Inc. v. Valley Indus. Serv., Inc., No. CIV S-00-113 LKK/JFM, 2006 WL 2308442, at *4 (E.D. Cal. Aug. 9, 2006) (placing the anticipated litigation date to when a potential claim was identified); Hynix Semiconductor Inc. v. Rambus, Inc., No. C-00-20905 RMW, 2006 WL 565893, at *21, 24 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 5, 2006) (finding that litigation became "probable" when counsel was selected). Regardless of the precise terminology employed, each of these decisions recognizes that once a potential dispute matures to the point that litigation may well follow, relevant evidence should be preserved.

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