When litigation is reasonably anticipated, organizations issue what is known as a litigation hold. A litigation notice tells employees and those who manage data systems, such as IT personnel, what data is potentially relevant and what they should do to preserve potential evidence that could be needed for litigation or an investigation.
During a litigation hold, also known as an eDiscovery hold, the organization’s IT personnel are instructed to suspend routine document destruction policies that conflict with the hold, ensuring that potentially relevant data is not inadvertently destroyed.
A litigation hold typically ends—that is, it is lifted–when the underlying matter is resolved, whether through settlement, verdict, or appeal, or if litigation is no longer foreseeable. A litigation hold release notice is issued to recipients of the legal hold that it is no longer in effect, and provides for the organization’s return to business-as-normal document retention practices.
What resources are utilized when a litigation hold is lifted? And when it ends, what does a company do next?
What resources are utilized when a litigation hold is lifted?
When a litigation hold is released, organizations must carefully manage the resources involved in reviewing, preserving, and potentially disposing the preserved data. The personnel tasked with managing the end of a litigation hold often include the following:
Legal team: Attorneys, paralegals, and other legal personnel are crucial for reviewing documents, assessing relevance, and making decisions about whether the documents should be preserved or can be disposed of.
IT staff: IT professionals are needed to access, collect, and preserve electronic data, as well as implement data retention policies and procedures.
Records management personnel: Records managers oversee the organization’s records management policies, including the retention, preservation, and destruction of physical and electronic documents in accordance with document retention requirements and guidelines.
Technology is also an important resource utilized when a litigation hold is lifted, and often includes enterprise data management software and eDiscovery software that is used to identify, collect, review, and managed preserved data.
Of course, the specific resources that are utilized when a litigation hold is lifted will vary depending on the nature of the litigation, the volume of preserved data, and the organization’s existing data management practices; in some cases, lifting a hold does have some complexities.
Next, what steps should an organization take when a litigation hold ends?
When a litigation hold ends, a company can begin to review and potentially dispose of the preserved data. Typically, these are the actions that are taken:
- Assess relevance: Following the lift of a litigation hold, the legal team reviews the preserved data to determine which documents are still relevant to the case.
- Retain or dispose of: Non-relevant documents can be destroyed in accordance with the company’s data retention policy and applicable laws. However, relevant documents may need to be retained for a specific period, depending on the nature of the case and legal requirements.
- Update data retention policies: The company may need to update its data retention policies to reflect the new circumstances following the end of the litigation hold, and ensure compliance with legal requirements.
The specific procedures, timelines, and resources that are utilized when a litigation hold is lifted for ending a litigation hold can vary depending on the jurisdiction, the nature and complexity of the case, and the specific circumstances of the legal matter.
UnitedLex can help with your litigation hold processes. Let’s talk.
