Also known as: obliterates · obliterated · obliterating · obliteration · erase · destroy
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
To erase or destroy a writing or other marking.
To remove from existence or eliminate all traces of a thing.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
To erase or destroy a writing or other marking.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
To remove from existence or eliminate all traces of a thing.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Odette Orozco took her original will and drew heavy lines through every signature and dispositive paragraph with the intent to revoke it. The marks constituted a revocatory act because they obliterated the words on the instrument.
No. The testator must perform the act with the intent and purpose of revoking the will. A burning, tearing, or canceling qualifies even if it does not touch the words, but the act must be done by the testator or at the testator's direction in conscious presence.
Supporting sources
Onyx O'Reilly confronted a victim on the street and demanded a wallet. When the victim resisted, Onyx used a chokehold strong enough to overcome the struggle and took the wallet. The force met the threshold because it obliterated the victim's ability to retain possession.
Olivia Owens received a batch of documents in discovery that included a privileged memo. After notification of the claim, Olivia promptly sequestered the memo and all copies rather than allowing continued review by her team. The rule required her to obliterate any remaining copies once the claim was confirmed.
Otto Osman advised a client to delete emails that could serve as evidence in an upcoming contract dispute. The advice violated the rule against assisting another to obliterate material with potential evidentiary value.
Osprey Aviation owned waterfront parcels that the city condemned for a redevelopment project. The taking obliterated the owner's right to exclude others and transferred the land for public use under the Fifth Amendment.
Omega Energy was hit with a large punitive award after a bad-faith denial of coverage. The Court reduced the award because the ratio to compensatory damages was so high that it obliterated any reasonable relationship to the harm caused.
The party must promptly return, sequester, or destroy the information and copies, must not use or disclose it until the claim is resolved, and must take reasonable steps to retrieve any information already disclosed.
Supporting sources
Yes. The rule bars a lawyer from unlawfully altering, destroying, or concealing material having potential evidentiary value or from counseling or assisting another person to do so.
Supporting sources
…Article 1195, not attacked here, reads: "Art. 1195. Destroying unborn child "Whoever shall during parturition of the mother destroy the vitality or life in a child in a state of being born and before actual birth, which child would otherwise have been born alive, shall be confined in the penitentiary for life or for not…