Also known as: destroy · destroys · destroyed · destroying · destructions
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An act or process that ruins, eliminates, or renders unusable a thing or its utility. The concept requires physical alteration or removal sufficient to change identity, usability, or legal status under the governing doctrine.
Dominic Drake approaches Dolores Diaz on the street and demands her purse. When she resists, Drake threatens to burn down her nearby home if she does not comply. Diaz surrenders the purse. The threat satisfies the intimidation element because it involves immediate risk to the victim's dwelling.
Dawson Steel contracts to buy land and a warehouse from Duffy Construction. Before closing a fire destroys the warehouse. Under equitable conversion Dawson must still pay the full price because the risk of loss passed at contract formation.
During litigation Duarte Shipping produces an email later claimed as privileged. After notification the receiving party must promptly return, sequester, or destroy all copies and may not use or disclose the information until the claim is resolved.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A lawyer learns that a client possesses documents with potential evidentiary value in pending litigation. The lawyer instructs the client to destroy the documents to avoid production. The instruction violates the rule against assisting another to unlawfully destroy material having evidentiary value.
Dillon Energy contracts to purchase a custom-built generator required for its plant. Before delivery the generator is destroyed in a warehouse fire. The destruction discharges Dillon's duty because the generator's existence was a basic assumption of the contract.
Damian Decker enters Darius Dixon's land and chops down mature trees that Dixon had marked for preservation. Decker's intentional destruction changes the timber's identity and subjects him to liability for conversion to the party entitled to immediate possession.
No. Threats to damage property generally do not satisfy the requirement unless the threat is to destroy the victim's dwelling house.
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The buyer bears the risk of loss once a binding contract is formed because equitable conversion treats the buyer as owner of the land.
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The party must promptly return, sequester, or destroy the information and any copies and must not use or disclose it until the claim is resolved.
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No. A lawyer shall not unlawfully alter, destroy, or conceal a document or other material having potential evidentiary value or counsel or assist another person to do so.
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Yes. Destruction of a specific thing whose existence is necessary for performance is an event the non-occurrence of which was a basic assumption on which the contract was made.
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Intentional destruction that changes the chattel's identity or character subjects the actor to liability for conversion to a person in possession or entitled to immediate possession.
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