MEMORANDUM
TO: [[Custodian Name(s) / Distribution List]]
FROM: [[Issuing Attorney Name / Legal Department]]
DATE: [[Hold Issue Date]]
RE: LITIGATION HOLD - MANDATORY PRESERVATION OF DOCUMENTS AND DATA
MATTER: [[Matter Name / Case Reference Number]]
HOLD ID: [[Hold ID / Reference Code]]
SECTION 1 - TRIGGERING EVENT AND REASONABLE ANTICIPATION OF LITIGATION
On or about [[Triggering Event Date]], [[Company / Organization Name]] (the "Company") became aware of circumstances that reasonably anticipate litigation, a regulatory investigation, or other adversarial proceeding. Specifically:
[[Description of Triggering Event - e.g., "the Company received a demand letter from counsel for [[Opposing Party Name]] alleging [[Brief Description of Claims, e.g., breach of contract, employment discrimination, patent infringement]]."]]
Under federal law, the duty to preserve potentially relevant evidence arises at the moment litigation is reasonably anticipated, not when a complaint is filed. Zubulake v. UBS Warburg LLC, 220 F.R.D. 212, 216 (S.D.N.Y. 2003). This notice is being issued as of [[Hold Issue Date]] to satisfy that duty and to protect the Company from sanctions for spoliation under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 37(e), which authorizes courts to impose adverse-inference jury instructions, dismissal, or default judgment when electronically stored information that should have been preserved is lost due to a failure to take reasonable steps to preserve it.
You are directed to implement the steps in this Notice immediately. Failure to comply may expose you and the Company to serious legal consequences, including contempt of court, evidentiary sanctions, and monetary penalties.
SECTION 2 - SCOPE OF PRESERVED INFORMATION
2.1 Subject Matter
You must preserve all documents, data, and electronically stored information (ESI) - regardless of format or location - that relates to, refers to, or may reasonably be relevant to any of the following subject-matter categories:
- [[Subject Matter Category 1 - e.g., "All communications, agreements, and dealings between the Company and [[Opposing Party Name]] concerning [[Product / Service / Project Name]]."]]
- [[Subject Matter Category 2 - e.g., "All internal discussions, approvals, or reviews relating to [[Event / Decision / Policy at Issue]]."]]
- [[Subject Matter Category 3 - e.g., "All financial records, invoices, purchase orders, or payment records associated with [[Transaction / Account]]."]]
- [[Subject Matter Category 4 - add additional categories as needed]]
- All communications in which any party expressed concern, complaint, or objection regarding any of the above.
- All documents relating to the potential claims or defenses the Company may assert, including damages or loss calculations.
- All insurance policies, indemnification agreements, or third-party coverage documents that may apply to the claims at issue.
2.2 Relevant Date Range
You must preserve all qualifying materials created, modified, sent, or received from [[Earliest Relevant Date]] through the present, and continuing until you receive a written notice from the Legal Department releasing this hold. If you are uncertain whether a document falls within the date range, preserve it.
2.3 All Formats Covered
Preservation applies to materials in every form, including but not limited to:
- Electronic mail (email), including drafts, attachments, embedded links, and calendar invitations
- Instant messages, text messages (SMS/MMS), and chat platform messages
- Word-processed documents, spreadsheets, PDFs, and presentations
- Databases and structured data exports
- Voice messages, recordings, and transcripts
- Handwritten notes, physical correspondence, and printed materials
- Contracts, amendments, exhibits, and closing binders
- Photographs, videos, and other multimedia files
- Social-media posts, comments, and direct messages related to the matter
- System logs, audit trails, access records, and metadata
SECTION 3 - IDENTIFIED CUSTODIANS
The following individuals (each a "Custodian") have been identified as potentially holding relevant information and are subject to this Hold:
| # | Custodian Name | Title / Role | Department |
|---|---------------|-------------|------------|
| 1 | [[Custodian 1 Name]] | [[Title]] | [[Department]] |
| 2 | [[Custodian 2 Name]] | [[Title]] | [[Department]] |
| 3 | [[Custodian 3 Name]] | [[Title]] | [[Department]] |
| 4 | [[Custodian 4 Name]] | [[Title]] | [[Department]] |
| 5 | [[Custodian 5 Name]] | [[Title]] | [[Department]] |
| 6 | [[Add additional rows as needed]] | | |
If you believe another individual holds potentially relevant information, notify [[Legal Contact Name]] at [[Legal Contact Email]] immediately so they may be added to this Hold.
When a Custodian leaves the Company during the pendency of this Hold, their data must be retained and must not be deleted as part of any standard offboarding or account-termination process. Notify the Legal Department before any departing Custodian's accounts are deprovisioned.
SECTION 4 - DATA SYSTEMS AND SOURCES SUBJECT TO HOLD
Each Custodian must identify and preserve potentially relevant data in all of the following systems and source types:
4.1 Email Platforms
- Corporate email accounts (e.g., [[Email Domain / Platform, e.g., Microsoft Exchange / Outlook, Google Workspace]])
- Shared mailboxes, distribution lists, and functional accounts you manage
- Email sent or received on any personal account ([[Personal Email Domain]]) that touched Company business related to this matter
4.2 Messaging and Collaboration Platforms
- Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Chat, or other internal chat systems
- Text messages and iMessage on Company-issued mobile devices
- Text messages and iMessage on personal devices used for Company business relating to this matter
- WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, or other third-party messaging applications used for Company business
- ⚠️ IMPORTANT - EPHEMERAL AND AUTO-DELETE MESSAGING: If you use any application with auto-delete, disappearing-message, or ephemeral features (e.g., Signal disappearing messages, Snapchat, Telegram Secret Chats, Slack's message-retention auto-purge, or any similar setting), you must immediately disable those features for all communications within the scope of this Hold. Contact IT ([[IT Contact Name / Helpdesk Email]]) for assistance. Failure to disable auto-delete on ephemeral messaging platforms is one of the most common causes of spoliation sanctions under FRCP 37(e).
4.3 Cloud Storage and File-Sharing Services
- SharePoint, OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, or any other cloud document storage
- Shared drives and departmental file repositories
- Third-party project-management or collaboration tools (e.g., Asana, Monday.com, Basecamp, Jira, Notion)
4.4 Local Devices and On-Premises Systems
- Laptop and desktop hard drives (work-issued and personal devices used for Company business)
- External hard drives, USB drives, and portable storage media
- Network shared drives and on-premises file servers
- Company-issued mobile phones, tablets, and other portable devices
4.5 Databases and Enterprise Applications
- CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot) - customer records, communications, account notes
- ERP and accounting systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, QuickBooks) - financial transactions, invoices, purchase orders
- HR information systems (e.g., Workday, ADP, BambooHR) - personnel files, performance records, payroll, leave records
- Custom internal databases and data warehouses relevant to [[Matter Subject Area]]
- Contract-management platforms and e-signature repositories
4.6 Website, Application, and System Logs
- Web-application and server logs
- Security-information and event-management (SIEM) logs and access logs
- System-audit trails and change logs
- Backup tapes, snapshots, and archival media
4.7 Physical/Hard-Copy Materials
- Printed correspondence, memos, and reports
- Contracts, signed agreements, and closing binders
- Handwritten notes, notebooks, and sticky notes relating to the matter
- Physical files in your office, home office, or off-site storage relating to the matter
If you are uncertain whether a particular system or document is within scope, preserve it and contact the Legal Department for guidance.
SECTION 5 - SUSPENSION OF AUTOMATIC DELETION AND RETENTION-POLICY OVERRIDE
Effective immediately, all automatic data-deletion, overwriting, purging, and retention-schedule processes that may affect potentially relevant data are SUSPENDED for all Custodians named in Section 3 and all data sources listed in Section 4.
Specific actions required:
- Email auto-archiving and deletion rules: Do not apply, modify, or create any rule that automatically deletes, moves, or archives email related to this matter. Contact IT ([[IT Contact Name / Helpdesk Email]]) to place a mailbox-level litigation hold on your account(s) if your email platform supports it (e.g., Microsoft In-Place Hold or Litigation Hold; Google Vault).
- Voicemail and audio-message auto-deletion: Suspend any auto-delete setting on Company voicemail accounts. Save and preserve any voicemails related to this matter.
- Chat and instant-message retention: Contact IT to confirm that message-retention policies for applicable Slack workspaces, Microsoft Teams channels, or other chat platforms have been paused for the custodian accounts and channels within the scope of this Hold.
- Mobile-device backup and sync settings: Do not reset, factory-restore, or wipe any device that may hold relevant data without prior written approval from the Legal Department.
- Cloud-storage version history: Do not delete older file versions or clear version-history logs for any documents within scope.
- Scheduled database purges: The [[Database Administrator / IT Systems Team]] is directed to halt any scheduled purge, archival, or overwrite job affecting the databases identified in Section 4.5 until further notice.
- Backup tape rotation: The [[IT / Backup Systems Team]] must suspend routine tape-rotation and overwrite schedules for backup media that may contain data within scope of this Hold.
The Legal Department will coordinate with IT to implement technical litigation-hold controls where platform features exist. However, this Notice places an independent personal obligation on each Custodian - the existence of technical controls does not relieve you of your individual duty to preserve.
SECTION 6 - PRESERVATION OBLIGATIONS
Each Custodian named in this Notice must:
- Immediately stop deleting. Do not delete, discard, overwrite, or destroy any document, file, email, text message, or other material within the scope of this Hold - regardless of whether you believe it is helpful or harmful to the Company's position.
- Preserve in original format. Maintain documents in their original electronic format and location whenever possible. Do not copy-and-paste email text into new documents while discarding the original. Do not print and shred the electronic original.
- Preserve metadata. Metadata (e.g., author, date created, date modified, version history, access logs) is often as important as document content in litigation. Preserve documents in a manner that does not alter metadata - for example, do not "Save As" a document into a new file to reset its creation date.
- Suspend document-destruction schedules. If you are responsible for administering any document-retention policy, file-destruction schedule, or data-governance program, suspend that program to the extent it would affect potentially relevant materials.
- Segregate and label preserved materials (optional best practice). If feasible, collect potentially relevant electronic files into a dedicated "Hold - [[Matter Name]]" folder or label them clearly to facilitate later collection by the litigation team.
- Report potential loss immediately. If you discover that any potentially relevant document, email, or data has been lost, deleted, overwritten, or destroyed - whether accidentally or intentionally - you must notify the Legal Department at [[Legal Contact Email]] within 24 hours of discovery.
- Continuing obligation. Your preservation duty continues for the entire duration of this litigation hold. New documents you create or receive that fall within the scope of Section 2 are subject to this Hold from the moment they come into existence.
SECTION 7 - PROHIBITED ACTIONS
You MUST NOT do any of the following while this Hold is in effect:
- Delete, erase, shred, overwrite, or otherwise destroy any material within the scope of this Hold
- Modify the content of any document within scope (read-only access is permitted)
- Disable, bypass, or circumvent any litigation-hold control implemented by IT on your accounts
- Transfer, export, or copy relevant data to personal accounts, personal devices, or unapproved third-party services not already identified in this Notice
- Enable or re-enable auto-delete or disappearing-message features on any messaging application used for Company business
- Instruct, encourage, or permit any other person to take any action prohibited by this Notice
- Delete or modify computer log files, access records, or audit trails
- Dispose of any physical document or hard-copy material within scope
- Destroy any storage media (hard drives, USB drives, backup tapes) that may contain relevant data
- Use "File Shredder" utilities or similar tools on any device potentially holding relevant data
If a third party (outside counsel, auditor, regulator, or other) requests documents related to this matter, do not produce or transmit any materials without prior written authorization from [[Issuing Attorney Name / Legal Department]]. Direct all such requests to [[Legal Contact Name]] at [[Legal Contact Email]] immediately.
SECTION 8 - ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF RECEIPT
Each Custodian is required to sign and return the acknowledgment below within [[Acknowledgment Return Deadline, e.g., five (5) business days]] of receiving this Notice.
Return the signed acknowledgment to:
[[Legal Contact Name]]
[[Legal Contact Email]]
[[Legal Contact Phone Number]]
Failure to return a signed acknowledgment will be treated as non-compliance and will be escalated to [[Responsible Manager / General Counsel Name]].
The Legal Department will maintain a tracking log of all acknowledgments received and will follow up with Custodians who have not responded by the deadline. Keeping an acknowledgment log is essential to demonstrating reasonable steps to preserve evidence under FRCP 37(e).
SECTION 9 - IT AND LEGAL CONTACTS
Legal Department
Primary Contact: [[Issuing Attorney Name / General Counsel]]
Title: [[Title]]
Email: [[Legal Contact Email]]
Phone: [[Legal Contact Phone Number]]
Address: [[Legal Department Address]]
Outside Litigation Counsel (if applicable)
Firm: [[Outside Counsel Firm Name]]
Attorney: [[Outside Counsel Attorney Name]]
Email: [[Outside Counsel Email]]
Phone: [[Outside Counsel Phone Number]]
IT / Information Systems
Primary Contact: [[IT Contact Name / Helpdesk Name]]
Email: [[IT Contact Email / Helpdesk Email]]
Phone: [[IT Contact Phone Number]]
Ticketing System: [[Helpdesk Ticket URL or Reference]] - Use subject line: "Litigation Hold - [[Matter Name]] - [[Hold ID]]"
Questions about what to preserve, how to preserve it, or what systems are covered should be directed to the Legal Department or IT contacts above. When in doubt, preserve - do not delete.
SECTION 10 - ONGOING DUTY; HOLD UPDATES; RELEASE
10.1 Ongoing Duty
Your preservation obligation is continuous. It applies to all qualifying materials that already exist as of the date of this Notice and to all qualifying materials you create, receive, or encounter in the future, for as long as this Hold remains in effect. The Legal Department will monitor the status of this matter and will update the Hold if the scope of relevant information changes.
10.2 Updates to the Hold
If the Legal Department determines that the scope of this Hold should be expanded (additional custodians, additional subject matter, extended date range) or narrowed, a written supplemental notice will be issued. Supplemental notices carry the same mandatory force as this Notice.
10.3 Custodian Changes
If you are reassigned, transferred, or separated from the Company during the pendency of this Hold, notify the Legal Department immediately. You remain personally subject to this Hold for materials in your possession or control, and the Company will take steps to ensure your data is preserved through your transition.
10.4 Release of Hold
This Hold remains in effect until you receive a written Hold Release Notice from the Legal Department. You may not resume normal data-deletion practices with respect to materials covered by this Hold until you have received that written release. Do not assume the Hold has been lifted because you have not received updates for a period of time.
SECTION 11 - CONSEQUENCES OF NON-COMPLIANCE AND SPOLIATION WARNING
The destruction of potentially relevant evidence - whether intentional or negligent - is called spoliation and can have severe legal consequences for both the Company and the individual responsible.
Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(e), if ESI that should have been preserved is lost because a party failed to take reasonable steps to preserve it, and it cannot be restored or replaced through additional discovery, a court may:
- Order curative measures, including permitting additional discovery or additional time
- Give the jury an adverse-inference instruction - i.e., instruct the jury that it may presume the lost evidence was unfavorable to the party that failed to preserve it
- Dismiss the Company's claims or enter a default judgment against the Company if the court finds the failure was intentional or in bad faith
In addition, intentional destruction of evidence may constitute:
- Criminal obstruction of justice under 18 U.S.C. § 1519 (destruction of records in federal investigations)
- Contempt of court
- State-law claims for fraudulent concealment
This Notice is your formal instruction to comply. Ignorance of the duty, convenience, or routine business practice is not a defense to spoliation sanctions. If you have any doubt about whether an item should be preserved or whether an action is permitted, do not act - contact the Legal Department first.
SECTION 12 - SIGNATURE BLOCK - ISSUING AUTHORITY
Issued by:
___________________________________
[[Issuing Attorney Name]]
[[Title]]
[[Company / Organization Name]]
Date: [[Hold Issue Date]]
ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF RECEIPT
To be signed and returned to [[Legal Contact Email]] within [[Acknowledgment Return Deadline]].
I, the undersigned, acknowledge that:
- I have received and read the Litigation Hold Notice dated [[Hold Issue Date]], for the matter captioned [[Matter Name / Case Reference Number]] (Hold ID: [[Hold ID / Reference Code]]).
- I understand my obligation to preserve all potentially relevant documents, data, and electronically stored information as described in the Notice.
- I have suspended all automatic-deletion rules, disappearing-message settings, and routine data-destruction schedules that might affect materials within the scope of the Hold.
- I have identified the data systems, devices, and accounts in my possession or control that may contain relevant materials and have taken steps to preserve them.
- I will immediately notify the Legal Department if I discover that any potentially relevant material has been lost, deleted, or destroyed.
- I understand that failure to comply may result in sanctions against me and the Company.
Custodian Name (Print): ___________________________________
Signature: ___________________________________
Title / Department: ___________________________________
Date Signed: ___________________________________
Email Address: ___________________________________
List of Systems/Accounts You Have Placed on Hold:
(Complete this section - attach additional sheet if necessary)
| System / Application | Account / Username / Location | Action Taken |
|---------------------|-------------------------------|-------------|
| Corporate Email | | Auto-delete disabled; IT hold placed |
| Chat / Messaging | | Auto-delete disabled |
| Mobile Device(s) | | Device preserved; no wipe |
| Cloud Storage | | Version history preserved |
| Other: [[System]] | | [[Action]] |
SOURCES AND "AS OF" DATE
- Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 37(e) (ESI preservation and sanctions), as amended Dec. 1, 2015 - as of June 2026
- Zubulake v. UBS Warburg LLC, 220 F.R.D. 212 (S.D.N.Y. 2003) - establishing that duty to preserve arises when litigation is reasonably anticipated
- 18 U.S.C. § 1519 - Destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations
- The Sedona Principles, Third Edition (2017) - best-practice guidance on ESI preservation and litigation holds
> Template - not legal advice. This document is a template for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The duty to preserve, the scope of any litigation hold, and the adequacy of preservation steps depend on the specific facts and applicable law of each matter. Consult a licensed attorney before issuing or relying on any litigation hold notice. As of June 2026.
