spoliation-letter

name	spoliation-letter
title	Spoliation Letter (Evidence Preservation Demand)
description	Drafts spoliation and evidence preservation demand letters for personal injury litigation. Generates case-specific evidence itemization, litigation hold demands, compliance deadlines, and sanctions warnings. Use when sending preservation demands, litigation hold notices, or spoliation letters in pre-suit or early discovery phases.
author	CaseMark
author_url	https://github.com/CaseMark/skills/tree/main/skills/legal/spoliation-letter
license	Apache-2.0
version	0.1.0
execution_mode	open
jurisdiction	us
practice	personal-injury
language	en

Spoliation Letter (Evidence Preservation Demand)

Generates a formal letter establishing the opposing party's duty to preserve evidence and creating a record to support future sanctions motions.

Prerequisites

Gather before drafting:

• Parties — full legal names, addresses, counsel if known
• Incident — date, location, nature of incident and injuries
• Known evidence — specific items already identified (cameras, vehicles, products, records)
• Case type — premises liability, motor vehicle, product liability, medical malpractice, or other PI subcategory
• Jurisdiction — for state-specific spoliation standards

Quick Start

1. Collect party and incident details from intake documents
2. Identify case type to select evidence categories
3. Draft letter following the required sections below
4. Tailor evidence itemization with case-specific items from uploaded documents
5. Send via certified mail (return receipt requested); concurrent email if address known

Required Letter Sections

1. Opening — Representation & Notice

• Identify attorney/firm and client
• State date, location, and general nature of incident
• Do NOT disclose work product or litigation strategy

2. Legal Duty to Preserve

• Demand preservation of all relevant evidence
• State duty attaches once litigation is reasonably anticipated
• Require immediate suspension of routine destruction/retention policies
• Require litigation hold across all custodians

3. Evidence Itemization (Case-Type Specific)

Select and tailor from applicable categories:

Case Type	Key Categories
Premises liability	Surveillance footage (camera locations + time window), incident reports, maintenance/inspection logs, prior complaints, repair records, photographs, safety policies
Motor vehicle	EDR/black box data, dashcam footage, vehicle maintenance records, driver logs/hours-of-service, employment/training records, cell phone records, GPS data
Product liability	Subject product and exemplars, design specs, testing/QA records, prior complaints/recalls, modification history, marketing materials, regulatory submissions
All cases	Emails, texts, instant messages, social media, internal communications, photos/video, insurance files, personnel/training files, policies and procedures, financial records