| 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
- Collect party and incident details from intake documents
- Identify case type to select evidence categories
- Draft letter following the required sections below
- Tailor evidence itemization with case-specific items from uploaded documents
- 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 |
