Legal hold notice: what to do first
Sample notice, effective Monday 3 March: preserve project messages and files High priority
In this fictional example, Harbor & Pine Group's Legal and Compliance team has sent a hold notice to everyone who worked on the Riverside warehouse fit-out between 1 September and 28 February. Read your own notice first. It is the authority on who is covered, what is covered and for how long. Then follow the steps below.
Your notice defines the scope, not this page Medium priority
This page explains the general process. If anything in your notice is unclear, ask the counsel named in it before you delete, move or edit anything.
What a legal hold notice means for you
A notice asks you to keep information as it is
A legal hold notice is an instruction from Legal and Compliance to keep certain information exactly as it is, instead of following normal clean-up routines. It does not mean you did something wrong, and it does not ask you to collect, summarize or send anything unless the notice says so.
What every notice states
- Who is covered: named people, roles or teams.
- What information is covered: for example messages, documents, spreadsheets, calendar entries or notes about a stated subject.
- When: the time period the information relates to, and the date the hold takes effect.
- How to preserve it: the approved tools or locations to use.
- Who to ask: the counsel and the case system named for acknowledgment.
The hold stays in place until Legal and Compliance tells you in writing that it has been released. Routine deletion or archiving that would affect covered information should wait until then.
Worked example: reading the scope of a sample notice
Sample notice: messages and files about the Riverside warehouse fit-out, 1 September to 28 February. Your own notice may differ.
| Item | Within the sample scope? | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Team chat thread with the contractor about delivery dates, October | Yes: project messages in the period | Leave it in place. Do not delete or edit messages. |
| Draft site-layout spreadsheet saved to your laptop, December | Yes: project file in the period | Keep it. Use the approved preservation tool named in the notice rather than copying it yourself. |
| Meeting invitation for a fit-out review, January | Yes: calendar entry about the project | Keep it and do not cancel and recreate it. |
| Message about a different project, November | Not on its face: outside the stated subject | Do not assume it is covered or exempt. If it mentions the fit-out, ask counsel. |
| Personal message to a family member | Not work information | Nothing to preserve unless the notice says otherwise. |
Guidance by role
Each role has a different part to play. None of them involves deciding legal scope.
Read the whole notice
Check that you are named or that your role is covered, and note the subject, the time period and the effective date.
Stop routine deletion of covered material
Turn off your own clean-up habits for covered information, such as emptying folders, clearing old chats or removing files from a laptop.
Preserve through the approved tools
Use only the tools or locations named in your notice. Do not rename, reorganize, forward or copy covered files to personal accounts.
Acknowledge and ask
Acknowledge in the case system named in the notice by the date it gives. If you are unsure about anything, contact the counsel named in the notice first.
Tell your team where to look
Point people to the notice they received. Do not paraphrase its scope for them, because your summary may differ from what Legal and Compliance intended.
Flag changes in your team early
If someone covered by the notice is leaving, changing roles or returning a device, tell the counsel in the notice before the change happens.
Hold routine team clean-ups
Pause shared-folder tidy-ups and archive projects that could include covered material until counsel confirms what can go ahead.
Keep requests general
When you ask counsel for help on behalf of your team, describe the situation without case details or confidential evidence.
Follow the instruction in the notice
Apply any suspension of automatic deletion or archiving that the notice and your approved procedures call for, and only that.
Raise system and device questions with counsel
If a retention setting, backup or device refresh could affect covered information, ask the counsel named in the notice before acting.
Do not decide legal scope
Whether something is covered is a question for counsel. Route it there instead of making a judgment call about an individual file or message.
Route employee questions
Send questions about scope or acknowledgment back to the counsel and case-system route in the notice.
Four steps after you receive a notice
This page explains the steps. Preservation and acknowledgment happen in your approved tools and the case system.
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1
Read the notice and its scope
Note who is covered, what information, the time period, the effective date and the counsel to contact.
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2
Preserve potentially covered information with the approved tools
Leave it as it is. Do not delete, edit, rename or move it. Use the tools or locations the notice names for any preservation step it asks for.
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3
Acknowledge receipt in the named case system
Sign in to the case system your notice names and record your acknowledgment by the date in the notice. Reading this page does not count as an acknowledgment.
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4
Contact the counsel named in the notice when you are unsure
Ask before you act. Describe the situation in general terms: no case names, no confidential evidence.
Situations people ask about
Three common situations and the safe response
It is covered work
A chat thread or file falls within the notice's subject and dates.
- Leave it where it is.
- Preserve it as the notice directs.
- Keep working normally; do not edit past messages.
It looks outside the notice
You cannot tell whether something is covered.
- Do not assume it is covered or exempt.
- Ask the counsel named in your notice.
- Hold off on deleting it until you hear back.
Something is about to change
A departure, device swap or routine clean-up is coming up.
- Tell counsel promptly, before it happens.
- Do not delete or move material to get ahead of it.
- Let counsel confirm the next step.
Where to take your questions
Use the routes named in your notice
For questions about scope, preservation tools, acknowledgment or access to the case system, use the counsel contact and case-system route named in your notice. They are the only authority on what your notice covers.
Writing a good help request
- Say which notice you received and your role.
- Describe the kind of item you are unsure about, such as a spreadsheet saved locally in December.
- Do not include case names, confidential evidence or the content of the material.
- Say if something is time-sensitive, for example a device return or a planned departure.
This page is general guidance. It is not legal advice and does not replace your notice or the organization's approved procedures.