Can you destroy or change these documents if it improves your company’s chances of winning the lawsuit?

Ethical Issues and Document Destruction in Discovery

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!)