spoliation
Ruining seized property
Spoliation is the destruction, alteration, or concealment of evidence—particularly documents relevant to litigation.
In legal contexts, spoliation can result in sanctions or adverse inferences against the party who destroyed the evidence: The court found spoliation when the company deleted emails after receiving the subpoena.
More broadly, spoliation means plundering or despoiling, as of property during wartime.
Violent theft of goods
- lootingTheft during disorder
- sackingDismissal from employment
- raidingSudden attack for plunder
- maraudingRoving to plunder
ransacking · depredation · booty · conquest · plundering · brigandage · foray · incursion
Process of declining quality
- degradationDecline in condition
- ruinationState of complete destruction
- dilapidationState of ruin
- declineDecrease or refuse
ravages · damage · impairment · disrepair · desolation · devastation · crumbling · rot
Improper interference with something
- obstruction of justiceInterfering with legal processes
- discoveryAct of finding something
- litigationLegal dispute process
- sanctionsPunitive international restrictions
e-discovery · forensic analysis · chain of custody · subpoena · contempt of court · bad faith · evidence tampering · metadata
Violating something sacred
pillage
Violent theft of goods
marauding · ransacking · depredation · booty · conquest · plundering · brigandage · foray · incursion
deterioration
Process of declining quality
- degradationDecline in condition
- ruinationState of complete destruction
- dilapidationState of ruin
decline · ravages · damage · impairment · disrepair · desolation · devastation · crumbling · rot · destruction
tampering
Improper interference with something
- obstruction of justiceInterfering with legal processes
- discoveryAct of finding something
- litigationLegal dispute process
sanctions · e-discovery · forensic analysis · chain of custody · subpoena · contempt of court · bad faith · evidence tampering · metadata · custodian
desecration
Violating something sacred
- e-discoveryESI, production, processing, collection, predictive coding
- tortstort, negligence, tortfeasor, torts, tort law
- arts lawart fraud, fair use, intellectual property, looted art, restitution claims
- discoveryfind, finding, discovery, discover, finding out
- evidenceevidence, evidence bag, circumstantial evidence, proof, admissible
- sacrilegeblasphemy, desecration, profanation, idol worship, idolatry
spoliationpreservation
Maintaining something's condition
conservation · protection · safeguarding · maintenance · restoration
spoliationboon
Helpful benefit received
endowment · bestowal · enrichment · benefaction · donation
spoliationpurification
Removal of contaminants
restoration · remediation · sterilization · cleaning · cleansing