Spoliation Rule? - Joseph Hage Aaronson

Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Spoliation Rule?

Today, I attended and moderated a panel at a meeting of the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure of the United States Judicial Conference. The topic under discussion was a preservation (i.e., spoliation) rule for inclusion in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Judge Mark Kravitz (D. Conn.), Chair of the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, made it clear that a rule is under serious consideration and might conceivably be available for Standing Committee consideration as early as June 2011 (although he was very clear that this date was by no means certain). The rule may deal only with the sanctions consequences of failure to preserve and not, as I strongly urge, triggers and scope. (See our post of May 12, 2010, for details.) Whatever and whenever, I am looking forward to the Committee’s draft.

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