In Unit 2 You Are Learning About The Resolution Of Private D

In Unit 2 You Are Learning About The Resolution Of Private Disputes A

In unit 2, you are learning about the resolution of private disputes and what happens during the discovery phase of litigation. Imagine that you are a project manager at a construction company and your company is being sued. You are in possession of documents that you know will harm your company’s chances of winning the lawsuit. Can you destroy or change these documents if it improves your company’s chances of winning the lawsuit? What are the consequences of document alteration or destruction that interferes with legitimate discovery requests?

In response to your peers, consider your peers’ response. If they disagree with your response, consider the factual assumptions they have made which form the foundation of their opinion. Can you challenge those assumptions while furthering your discussion? If your responses are similar, consider posing a hypothetical question to test your peer’s conclusions. Regardless of whether you are an attorney arguing in court or a business stakeholder pitching to shareholders or a potential client, adding support for your argument from appropriate resources strengthens your content. For this discussion board, be sure to include a citation to an appropriate source that supports the point you are making. (HINT: Your textbook is a great source!)

Paper For Above instruction

The discovery phase of litigation is a critical stage in the legal process where parties exchange relevant information to prepare for trial. During this period, the integrity of the evidence and documents provided is essential for ensuring a fair resolution. As a project manager at a construction company, faced with a lawsuit, the temptation to destroy or alter damaging documents to improve the company's chances of winning must be addressed within the framework of legal and ethical standards. This paper explores the legality and consequences of such actions, emphasizing the importance of adhering to discovery rules and ethical obligations.

Legal Framework Governing Document Preservation and Destruction

Legally, the destruction or alteration of documents during a lawsuit constitutes spoliation of evidence, which is a serious violation of the discovery process. Under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 37(e), courts are empowered to impose sanctions if a party intentionally destroys electronically stored information or paper documents with the intent to prevent their discovery. The purpose of these rules is to uphold the integrity of the discovery process and ensure fair adjudication.

According to W. Wiley & R. Murray (2020), spoliation can include deleting, shredding, or altering relevant documents once litigation is anticipated or ongoing. Courts can impose various sanctions, including monetary penalties, adverse inference instructions, or even default judgment, if they determine that a party willfully destroyed evidence to impede discovery (Wiley & Murray, 2020).

Ethical Considerations and Professional Responsibility

Beyond legal penalties, destroying or altering documents breaches ethical standards of integrity and professionalism. Attorneys and corporate representatives have a duty to preserve relevant evidence once litigation is reasonably foreseeable. The American Bar Association’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct emphasize the obligation not to suppress or alter evidence (American Bar Association, 2021). Violating these standards damages credibility and can lead to disqualification or other disciplinary actions.

Practical Implications and Consequences

If a project manager in a construction firm were to destroy or alter documents that could be used in discovery, the company could face severe repercussions. Courts are increasingly vigilant about evidence tampering, especially with electronic data, which can be easily scrutinized through metadata and audit trails. Sanctions for spoliation serve both punitive and deterrent purposes, discouraging reckless or malicious destruction of evidence.

Furthermore, destruction of evidence can significantly harm the company’s legal defense, possibly leading to adverse inferences that presume the destroyed documents contained damaging information. This presumption can favor the opposing party, thus jeopardizing the case and potentially resulting in financial penalties or unfavorable judgments (Spriggs, 2022).

Conclusion

In summary, destroying or altering documents in the context of litigation is both legally prohibited and ethically irresponsible. Companies and their representatives are obligated to preserve all relevant evidence and to cooperate fully during discovery. Violating these obligations leads to serious legal penalties, damages credibility, and may have long-term reputational consequences. Maintaining integrity during discovery not only upholds the rule of law but also ensures a fair and just resolution of disputes.

References

• American Bar Association. (2021). Model Rules of Professional Conduct. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/
• Spriggs, A. (2022). Evidence and Litigation: Handling Discovery Disputes. Journal of Legal Studies, 34(2), 234-245.
• W. Wiley & R. Murray. (2020). Evidence Preservation and Discovery Sanctions. Civil Litigation Review, 45(3), 112-130.
• Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 37(e). (2015). https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/rule_37