# Legal Hold Notice: [Matter name or code]

> A legal hold (litigation hold, preservation notice) package: the
> trigger decision, the scope of what must be kept, the custodian and
> data source lists, the notice sent to custodians, acknowledgements
> and reminders, and the release. It follows the preservation duties
> in US Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 37(e) (as amended
> effective 1 December 2015), the preservation paragraphs of UK
> Practice Direction 57AD (Business and Property Courts, in force from
> 1 October 2022) and the process described in The Sedona Conference
> Commentary on Legal Holds, Second Edition (June 2019). Replace every
> `[bracketed]` value and every row marked *Example*. This is a
> documentation format, not legal advice; check the current official
> texts and consult a qualified professional.

<!--
Guidance: How to use this template
- Section 1 is the internal hold record kept by legal. Section 4 is
  the notice that goes to custodians; send it in plain language and
  keep it free of privileged analysis about the merits.
- Issue the hold as soon as litigation or an investigation is
  reasonably anticipated, not when a claim is served. Record the date
  and the reason in section 1.
- Suspend automatic deletion for the sources in section 3 at the same
  time as the notice goes out. A notice that leaves auto-delete
  running is the most common failure.
- The worked example is fictional: Quillmere Systems Ltd, a business
  software company, and a supplier dispute. Delete it before use.
- Related documents: Records Schedule
  (`compliance/iso-15489-records-schedule`), Matter Intake and Triage
  (`legal-ops/matter-intake-triage`), Outside Counsel Guidelines
  (`legal-ops/outside-counsel-guidelines`), Records of Processing
  (`compliance/gdpr-ropa`).
-->

## Document control

<!-- Guidance: The hold record is confidential and usually privileged. Keep it in the matter file. Every change of scope, new custodian or release is a new version. -->

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Hold ID | [LH-2026-007] |
| Matter | [MAT-2026-0142, supplier dispute] |
| Version | [1.0] |
| Status | [Active / Partially released / Released] |
| Hold owner | [@litigation-counsel] |
| Outside counsel | [Firm, lead partner] |
| IT and records contacts | [@it-ediscovery-lead], [@records-manager] |
| Date issued | YYYY-MM-DD |
| Last updated | YYYY-MM-DD |
| Classification | [Confidential, privileged where applicable] |

### Revision history

| Version | Date | Author | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 *(Example)* | 2026-09-23 | Litigation counsel | Hold issued to 6 custodians |
| 1.1 *(Example)* | 2026-10-14 | Litigation counsel | Custodian C-07 added after interview |

## 1. Trigger and scope decision

<!-- Guidance: Record why and when the duty to preserve arose. Courts look at the date the organisation reasonably anticipated litigation. Write facts, not conclusions on the merits. -->

| Item | Record |
|---|---|
| Triggering event | *Example:* letter before claim from supplier dated 2026-09-21 alleging unpaid fees and wrongful termination |
| Date litigation reasonably anticipated | *Example:* 2026-09-21 |
| Decision maker and date | *Example:* General counsel, 2026-09-22 |
| Claims and issues | Termination of the hosting services contract, unpaid invoices, service level failures |
| Relevant period | *Example:* 2025-01-01 to present, ongoing |
| Jurisdictions likely involved | *Example:* England and Wales (contract governing law), US (supplier parent) |
| Regulator or investigation | [None / Name] |

Questions for the trigger decision:

- Has a claim been threatened, or would a reasonable person in the
  organisation's position expect one?
- Has a regulator, auditor or law enforcement body asked for
  information or opened an inquiry?
- Is there an internal event (a dismissal, a data breach, a product
  failure) that commonly leads to claims?
- If you decide not to issue a hold, record why.

## 2. Custodians

<!-- Guidance: Custodians are people who hold relevant information, including former employees and third parties holding data for you. Interview key custodians to find more sources. -->

| Custodian ID | Name and role | Why relevant | Notice sent | Acknowledged | Interviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C-01 *(Example)* | Head of infrastructure | Contract owner, service reviews | 2026-09-23 | 2026-09-23 | 2026-09-29 |
| C-02 *(Example)* | Procurement manager | Negotiation and termination letters | 2026-09-23 | 2026-09-25 | 2026-09-30 |
| C-03 *(Example)* | Finance accounts payable lead | Disputed invoices | 2026-09-23 | 2026-09-24 | Not needed |
| C-04 *(Example)* | Site reliability engineer | Incident records, SLA reports | 2026-09-23 | Reminder sent 2026-09-29 | 2026-10-01 |
| C-05 *(Example)* | Former vendor manager (left 2026-06) | Early contract period | Mailbox preserved by IT | n/a | n/a |
| C-06 *(Example)* | Managed service provider | Holds monitoring logs for us | Written request 2026-09-23 | Confirmed 2026-09-28 | n/a |
| C-07 *(Example)* | Customer success manager | Named in C-01 interview as holder of customer complaints about the outage | 2026-10-14 | 2026-10-15 | 2026-10-20 |

For former employees, preserve their accounts and devices through IT.
Where a former employee may still hold relevant documents that the
organisation does not have, consider a written request to them, as UK
PD 57AD paragraph 4.2(2) requires for proceedings it covers.

## 3. Data sources and preservation steps

<!-- Guidance: List every system, not only email. Name the preservation method and who confirmed it. Collect only when needed; preservation in place is often enough at the start. -->

| Source ID | Source | Owner | Preservation method | Auto-delete suspended | Confirmed by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DS-01 *(Example)* | Email and calendars | IT | Mailbox hold for C-01 to C-05 | Yes, 2026-09-23 | IT eDiscovery lead |
| DS-02 *(Example)* | Chat and channels | IT | Retention hold on named channels and users | Yes, 2026-09-23 | IT eDiscovery lead |
| DS-03 *(Example)* | Contract management system | Legal operations | Record locked | Not applicable | Contract manager |
| DS-04 *(Example)* | Ticketing and incident tool | Engineering | Export of tickets 2025-01 onward, deletion job paused | Yes, 2026-09-24 | Engineering manager |
| DS-05 *(Example)* | Finance system | Finance | Invoices and payment records retained, no purge run | Yes, 2026-09-24 | Finance systems lead |
| DS-06 *(Example)* | Laptops of C-01 and C-04 | IT | Kept on reissue, not wiped | Yes | IT service desk |
| DS-07 *(Example)* | Logs held by managed service provider | Vendor manager | Written preservation request | Vendor confirmed | Vendor contact |

Check: does any records schedule (`compliance/iso-15489-records-schedule`)
or system retention rule destroy items in scope during the hold? If
so, suspend it for those items and record the suspension here.

## 4. Notice to custodians

<!-- Guidance: Plain language, short, specific. Tell people what to keep, where it might be, what not to do and whom to ask. Do not discuss the merits or legal strategy in the notice. -->

**Subject:** Legal hold: do not delete information about [matter
description], hold [LH-ID]

**Confidential. Please read and acknowledge by [date].**

You are receiving this notice because you may have information related
to [short neutral description, for example: "the hosting services
contract with a supplier, its performance and its termination"].

**What you must do**

1. Keep all documents and data, in any form, that relate to [subject]
   from [start date] until you are told in writing that this hold is
   released. This includes email, chat messages, text messages on
   work and personal phones used for work, files, notes, calendar
   entries, recordings and paper.
2. Do not delete, overwrite, edit, move to a personal account or throw
   away any of this information, even if a policy or system setting
   would normally remove it.
3. Do not create new documents to comment on this matter unless asked
   by legal.
4. Tell legal about any other place where relevant information is
   kept, and about any colleague, former colleague or supplier who may
   hold it.
5. Acknowledge this notice by [replying to this message / using the
   link below] within [2] business days.

**What this notice is not**

This notice does not mean you have done anything wrong. It is a
standard step to make sure information is available.

**Questions:** [@litigation-counsel], [phone]. Do not discuss this
matter with anyone outside the organisation.

### 4.1 Acknowledgement

I confirm that I have read the legal hold notice [LH-ID], that I
understand it and that I will comply with it until I receive a written
release.

| Name | Signature or electronic confirmation | Date |
|---|---|---|
| [Custodian] | [ ] | YYYY-MM-DD |

## 5. Reminders, monitoring and changes

<!-- Guidance: A hold is a process, not one email. Remind custodians, follow up non-responses, add new custodians and re-check systems, especially after reorganisations and system changes. -->

| Activity | Frequency | Owner | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| Follow up custodians who have not acknowledged | After [2] business days, then escalate to their manager | Hold owner | Section 2 |
| Reminder notice to all custodians | Every [quarter] and at key case events | Hold owner | Section 7 |
| Joiner, mover, leaver check for custodians | Each HR change | HR and IT | Section 2 |
| Re-confirm system holds | Every [quarter] and after any system migration | IT eDiscovery lead | Section 3 |
| Scope review with outside counsel | At each pleading or disclosure stage | Hold owner and outside counsel | Revision history |

## 6. Jurisdiction notes

<!-- Guidance: These are dated examples of the rules that drive preservation in three systems. Confirm the rules that apply to your matter with counsel admitted there. -->

| Jurisdiction | Rule | What it means for this record |
|---|---|---|
| United States, federal courts | Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 37(e) (amended effective 1 December 2015) | Where electronically stored information that should have been preserved is lost because reasonable steps were not taken and cannot be restored or replaced, the court may order measures no greater than needed to cure prejudice, and the most severe measures (adverse inference, dismissal, default) require a finding of intent to deprive. Rule 26(f)(3)(C) asks the parties to address preservation in the discovery plan. https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/rule_37 |
| England and Wales, Business and Property Courts | Practice Direction 57AD, paragraphs 3 and 4 (in force from 1 October 2022) | A person who knows it is or may become a party must take reasonable steps to preserve relevant documents, suspend deletion processes, send written notification to relevant employees and former employees who may hold disclosable documents the party does not also hold, and take steps so that third parties holding documents for it do not destroy them. Legal representatives must obtain written confirmation of these steps. https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part-57a-business-and-property-courts/practice-direction-57ad-disclosure-in-the-business-and-property-courts |
| European Union, personal data | Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR), Article 5(1)(e) and Article 17(3)(e) | Personal data kept under a hold is still subject to storage limitation (kept no longer than necessary, Article 5(1)(e)) and still needs a lawful basis (Article 6), so record when the hold ends. The right to erasure does not apply where processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims. Record the hold in the records of processing (`compliance/gdpr-ropa`). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj |

Cross-border matters: transferring preserved personal data to another
country for disclosure can raise data transfer and blocking statute
issues. Ask privacy counsel before collection leaves the country.

## 7. Release

<!-- Guidance: Release the hold when the duty ends: final judgment and appeals, settlement with no related claims expected, or a decision that the threat has passed. Check other holds before resuming deletion, because the same data may be under another hold. -->

| Item | Record |
|---|---|
| Reason for release | [Settlement signed / Final judgment, appeal period expired / Threat withdrawn] |
| Decision maker and date | [@general-counsel], YYYY-MM-DD |
| Other holds covering the same custodians or sources | [None / LH-ID list] |
| Release notice sent to custodians | YYYY-MM-DD |
| System holds removed and retention resumed | YYYY-MM-DD, confirmed by [IT] |
| Third parties told | YYYY-MM-DD |

Release notice text: "Legal hold [LH-ID] about [subject] is released
from [date]. You may now manage this information under the normal
retention policy. Other legal holds you have received remain in force."

```mermaid
stateDiagram-v2
  [*] --> Assessed: Trigger event
  Assessed --> Active: Hold issued and auto-delete suspended
  Assessed --> NotIssued: Decision recorded
  Active --> Active: Reminders and scope changes
  Active --> Released: Duty ends and other holds checked
  Released --> [*]
  NotIssued --> [*]
```

## Standard and licence note

Based on the US Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 37(e) as
amended effective 1 December 2015, and Rule 26(f); UK Practice
Direction 57AD, Disclosure in the Business and Property Courts,
paragraphs 3 and 4 (in force from 1 October 2022); and Regulation (EU)
2016/679, Articles 5(1)(e) and 17(3)(e). The process structure follows
the themes of The Sedona Conference Commentary on Legal Holds, Second
Edition: The Trigger and The Process (June 2019), cited by name only;
read it at https://thesedonaconference.org/publication/Commentary_on_Legal_Holds.
All text is original wording. Check the current official texts before
use. The organisation, people and dates in the example are fictional.
This is a documentation format, not legal advice; consult a qualified
professional.

Template licence: MIT.