Process of Instituting A Litigation Hold - Tip of the Month

Originally published February 27, 2009

Keywords: document preservation, retention and destruction of data, company databases, records management, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, electronically stored information, litigation hold

Mayer Brown's Electronic Discovery & Records Management practice's Tip of the Month series provides practical information for litigators, IS and other business professionals. This February 2009 edition addresses the process of instituting a litigation hold.

Scenario:

A large company implements a set of policies that govern the retention and destruction of data and documents.  On March 1, 2009, a lawsuit is filed alleging that the company engaged in a price-fixing conspiracy for the past several years.  Under the company's retention policies, many of the documents relating to the pricing and sale of the product at issue would be eligible to be discarded or destroyed.