Blog Overview<\/b> – Imagine a company receives lawsuit notice on a Monday morning. On Tuesday, an employee accidentally deletes a chain of emails that would have been the most critical evidence in the case. Legal team is now exposed, not only to losing the case, but for additional sanctions for destroying evidence.<\/span><\/p>\n This scenario is exactly what a litigation hold is designed to prevent. Understanding:<\/span><\/p>\n This can be the difference between defensible case and a legal disaster.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Litigation hold is an internal process, where an organization instructs its:<\/span><\/p>\n To stop deletion, modification and moving any data that can relate to a legal matter. It can be thought of as a crime scene tape. Once it goes up, nothing inside gets touched.<\/span><\/p>\n The legal term behind it is the duty to preserve Electronically Stored Information (ESI)<\/strong>. <\/span>ESI is broader term we can think of it as a every <\/span>digital footprint<\/span><\/a> your company leaves:<\/span><\/p>\n When litigation hold is issued ESI preservation becomes a legal obligation, not a suggestion.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Litigation hold vs. legal hold –<\/strong>\u00a0They are the same thing. Almost. A legal hold is a broader term, covering any legal proceeding. A litigation hold refers specifically to civil lawsuits. In practice, legal teams use both terms interchangeably.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Litigation hold gets triggered the moment litigation is anticipated. Not after <\/span>lawsuit is officially filed, think of this as a smoke alarm: it doesn’t wait for the fire to reach you.<\/span><\/p>\n The hold starts at that very moment. Some common triggering events are as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Destroying, losing, or altering evidence after a triggering event is called spoliation<\/strong>. Courts can issue adverse inference instructions \u2014 meaning the jury is told to assume the deleted evidence was damaging to your case. This is a legal hole one cannot dig out of.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The <\/span>in-house legal team or outside counsel typically issues the litigation hold. It goes to anyone who have relevant data, called custodians. Custodian is like a librarian responsible for specific files. That can be a sales representative, finance manager, IT admin.<\/strong> Even former employee<\/strong> who still holds company data.<\/span><\/p>\n In sensitive cases, like fraud investigations, IT may implement a silent hold on a custodian\u2019s data without notifying them. This prevents intentional deletion before investigation begins.<\/span><\/p>\n Litigation hold notice (also called a litigation hold letter or hold order) is a formal written document that communicates the preservation obligation to custodians. It is legally binding and once custodian receives it, they are obligated to comply. Think of it as the official rulebook handed to every player before the game begins.<\/span><\/p>\n We hope now you have some clarity on what is a litigation hold.<\/p>\n When legal stakes are high, you need forensic-grade preservation of email evidence through a\u00a0 professional email forensics software<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Q – When litigation hold is received, what does management do ?<\/b><\/p>\n\n
\nBusiness evidence is stored electronically<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
\nEmail is the top data type requested in litigation<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
\nAverage sanction cost for spoliation failures<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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What is a Litigation Hold & Why It Matters<\/b><\/h2>\n
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\nWhen Does a Litigation Hold Get Triggered<\/b><\/h2>\n
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Who Issues It and Who Receives It?<\/b><\/h3>\n
\nWhat is a Litigation Hold Notice & What It Includes<\/b><\/h3>\n
\nThe Litigation Hold Process (Step by Step)<\/b><\/h3>\n
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\nLitigation Hold Across Email Platforms<\/b><\/h3>\n
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\n Platform<\/th>\n Hold Feature<\/th>\n Limitation<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n \n Microsoft 365 \/ Exchange<\/strong><\/td>\n In-place hold, mailbox litigation hold<\/td>\n Requires E3\/E5 license; limited forensic depth<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Gmail \/ Google Workspace<\/strong><\/td>\n Vault holds<\/td>\n Limited to active accounts; no cross-platform<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n On-premise Exchange \/ PST<\/strong><\/td>\n Manual archiving<\/td>\n No automation; high spoliation risk<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n MailXaminer<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\n Forensic-grade multi-platform preservation<\/td>\n None, it supports 25+ formats, court-admissible<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
\nFrequently Asked Questions<\/b><\/h4>\n