While monitoring your work email, you receive a message that puts a pit in your stomach. Your company’s General Counsel has sent you a “Litigation Hold Notice,” advising you that your emails, documents, and communications must be preserved. What does this mean? What do you need to do? Here are the basics on litigation hold notices, and a few simple tips on how to proceed once you receive one.
When your employer learns that either: (1) it is a party to a lawsuit; or (2) it has reason to anticipate future litigation, it has a duty to preserve documents that may be relevant to that litigation. This preservation of documents is achieved by sending a litigation hold notice to all employees who may possess such information, including documents, emails, communications, and any other electronically stored information (ESI).
You received the litigation hold notice because your employer believes that you may possess relevant documents and ESI. It does not mean that you have done something wrong or unlawful. Perhaps a project that you worked on resulted in litigation for breach of contract. Perhaps you served as supervisor for an employee who has threatened to sue the company for wrongful termination. Or maybe you are responsible for recordkeeping or managing important company documents that will be needed in a lawsuit. All of these situations may lead to you receiving a litigation hold notice.
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