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On 7/1/02 the NAM filed an amicus brief in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court regarding spoiling evidence relating to a product failure in a product liability suit. The case involves a fire allegedly started by a water heater, but the defendant company did not have an opportunity to independently examine the fire scene before it was cleaned up (although the cleanup occurred 18 months after the fire). We argued that fairness to manufacturers accused of product liability demands that relevant evidence be preserved for a reasonable amount of time, and that a trial court should impose some sanction for failure to do so, such as dismissal of the suit or allowing the jury to make an adverse inference against the plaintiff. The Pennsylvania court affirmed the lower court ruling without an opinion, implicitly denying the NAM's request for relief.