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necessarily transcends any particular specialized knowledge.” Thus, in-house counselmust possess not only the fundamental skills but also the ability to recognize when theyare ill-equipped to handle a certain legal situation.Although in-house counsel may lack experience, they may be able to gain competencythrough preparation. Preparation includes studying the field that the lawyer is unfamiliarwith and/or associating with outside counsel who is familiar with the subject at issue inorder to establish competency.In order to provide competent in-house representation, inside counsel must be aware ofthe duty to preserve evidence. This duty exists when a party foresees litigation with areasonable degree of certainty. Failure to comply with the duty may lead to liability forspoliation, the ‘intentional destruction, mutilation, alteration, or concealment ofevidence.’” 24“Sanctions for spoliation of evidence are ‘intended to prevent unfairprejudice to litigators and to insure the integrity of the discovery process.’” 25 Spoliationis enforced by the court through the imposition of penalties against the party whodestroyed evidence. The penalties can range from monetary sanctions, dismissal of theaction, adverse inferences, or disallowing certain evidence from being introduced attrial.There are typically three elements that must be met before spoliation penalties areimposed: (1) the party with control over the evidence had a duty to preserve it at thetime of destruction; (2) the evidence was destroyed with a “culpable state of mind”; and24 Swofford v. Eslinger, 671 F. Supp. 2d 1274, 1279 (M.D. Fla. 2009) (quoting BLACK'S LAW DICTIONARY1437 (8th ed. 2004)).25 Id. (citations omitted).15