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22 Am. J. Trial Advoc. 191 (1998-1999)
Spoliation of Evidence: Defining the Ethical Boundaries of Destroying Evidence

handle is hein.journals/amjtrad22 and id is 199 raw text is: Spoliation of Evidence:
Defining the Ethical Boundaries
of Destroying Evidence
Steven W. Huangt
Robert H. Muriert
I. The Scenarios
Tae K. Kim is the owner of Kim Enterprises, Inc., your firm's largest
client, and has just walked into your office asking for legal advice. He
sits down in a chair across from your desk and tells you that he possesses
hundreds of thousands of documents that detail every transaction in which
his corporation has been involved for the past twenty years. Although
the documents were originally stored at the corporation's headquarters,
the sheer volume soon required them to be stored at a nearby warehouse.
Mr. Kim tells you that many of the companies that were involved in these
transactions no longer exist and that he sees no foreseeable need for these
documents in the future. Additionally, the rental of the warehouse is ex-
tremely expensive. Kim Enterprises, Inc. could save a significant amount
of money on rental and storage fees if it simply destroyed all documents
more than five years old. What are the legal ramifications of such a
policy?
Imagine yourself in a different situation. This time, a new client of
your firm, Moo Jin Han of Han & Han Banking walks into your office.
Han & Han Banking has been slapped with two vicious sexual harassment
suits that have occupied the majority of your time for the past three
months. Today, you tell Mr. Han that you are concerned about certain
I B.S. (1995), University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana; J.D. (1998), Tulane
University School of Law. Mr. Huang is an associate at the law firm of Quinn, John-
ston, Henderson & Pretorius in Peoria, Illinois.
tt B.S. (1988), University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana; J.D. (1993), Loyola
University of Chicago School of Law. Mr. Muriel is an associate at the law firm of
Hinshaw & Culbertson in Chicago, Illinois.

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