Litigation Hold Letter (to Client)

by Practical Law Litigation

A Standard Document explaining a client's critical obligation to preserve information when litigation, an investigation, or an audit is anticipated or underway. It outlines the necessity of maintaining both paper documents and various forms of electronically stored information (ESI), including emails, data from ephemeral messaging applications, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, to prevent potential penalties and sanctions. This Standard Document details the types of materials subject to preservation and describes practical steps for implementing a litigation hold. These steps include suspending data destruction policies, identifying data custodians, and distributing a formal litigation hold notice to the organization's employees, which is separate from this letter. It also emphasizes that the duty to preserve is ongoing and covers subsequently created information and necessary electronic hardware. This Standard Document has integrated notes with important explanations and drafting tips.