announcement

Legal Hold: What Employees Need to Know

A one-page employee guide to understanding a legal hold notice, preserving covered information with approved tools, acknowledging receipt in the named case system, and knowing when to contact counsel.

Request pricing See it in MangoApps

Every employee gets a seat — priced per employee in Communications & Intranet, quoted with this template ready.

Rolled out to every employee at AutoZone (125,000), PetSmart (50,000+), A.S. Watson and Raley's (20,000) — and at larger retailers we are not permitted to name.

Built for: Legal services · Construction and real estate · Financial services · Healthcare administration

9:41

Sites

Overview

Legal Hold: What Employees Need to Know is a one-page announcement-style guide for employees who receive a legal hold notice. It opens with a prominent reminder to read the individual notice first, then explains what a hold means, what information a notice should identify, and why ordinary deletion or archiving of covered material must wait for written release. A fictional Harbor & Pine Group example makes the scope discussion concrete: messages and files about a Riverside warehouse fit-out over a stated date range. The example is explicitly illustrative, not a substitute for any employee’s notice.

The page turns that explanation into practical role guidance for employees, people managers, and records or systems contacts. A worked table distinguishes sample project messages, a local spreadsheet, a calendar entry, unrelated work, and a personal message, while advising employees to ask counsel when uncertain. Numbered steps cover reading the notice, preserving through approved tools, acknowledging in the named case system by the notice’s deadline, and contacting counsel. Scenario cards address covered work, uncertain scope, and upcoming changes such as a departure or device swap; a final section explains how to ask for help without sharing confidential evidence.

Use this template as a companion to matter-specific notices and approved procedures, after confirming the organization’s real roles, tools, acknowledgment route, and help path. Do not use it to determine legal scope, issue a hold, collect evidence, or replace a notice or counsel’s direction. It also does not implement preservation or case-system integration: those actions happen in the approved tools and system identified by the notice.

Standards & compliance context

The page frames itself as general guidance, not legal advice, and directs employees to their individual notice and named counsel for matter-specific instructions.
The sample hold is fictional; do not present its Riverside project, dates, or scope as an actual legal hold or as universally applicable.
The guide describes preserving information through approved tools and locations but does not create or replace an organization’s retention, records, or legal procedures.
Keep the acknowledgment route and any stated deadline tied to the individual notice; reading this page is not presented as a formal acknowledgment.
Use an accessible heading structure, readable table headers, and descriptive labels for tabs and other interactive content, consistent with WCAG 2.1 AA.

General regulatory context for orientation only — verify current requirements with counsel or the relevant agency before relying on this template for compliance.

What's inside this template

Legal hold notice: what to do first

This opening update directs employees to read their own notice before taking action and distinguishes general guidance from matter-specific instructions.

Sample notice, effective Monday 3 March: preserve project messages and files 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 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

This section defines a hold in plain language and lists the scope, dates, preservation method, and contacts an employee should find in the notice.

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

The fictional examples show how different work items might relate to a stated subject and date range without deciding the scope of a real 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

Separate instructions help employees, managers, and records or systems contacts act within their responsibilities without making legal scope decisions.

Each role has a different part to play. None of them involves deciding legal scope. Employees 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. People managers 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. Records and systems contacts 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 sequence takes employees from reading the notice through preservation and acknowledgment to asking counsel when uncertain.

This page explains the steps. Preservation and acknowledgment happen in your approved tools and the case system. Read the notice and its scope Note who is covered, what information, the time period, the effective date and the counsel to contact. 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. 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. 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

These scenarios give employees a safe next action for covered work, uncertain scope, and upcoming changes that could affect information.

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

This section routes questions to the counsel and case-system instructions in the notice and explains how to ask without sharing confidential evidence.

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.

How to use this template

Replace the fictional organization and Riverside fit-out example with clearly labeled, approved sample content, or remove the example if it could be mistaken for a real matter.
Verify that the page accurately describes the notice fields employees receive, including covered people, information, dates, effective date, preservation instructions, acknowledgment deadline, and counsel route.
Confirm each role’s instructions with Legal and Compliance and the relevant records or systems owners, keeping scope decisions with counsel.
Publish the guide beside the appropriate notice or employee resource page, and ensure the notice itself identifies the approved tools and case system employees must use.
Ask employees to read their own notice, preserve information as instructed, acknowledge in the named case system by its deadline, and raise uncertainty with the named counsel.
Review the page when approved procedures or the notice and case-system process change, and correct or remove any sample detail that could be mistaken for current guidance.

Best practices

Keep the instruction to read the individual notice first prominent, because the notice—not this general page—defines the hold’s scope.
Label all fictional examples clearly and avoid sample details that could be mistaken for an actual matter or employee instruction.
Use the organization’s approved names for preservation tools and case systems only after confirming them with their owners.
Tell employees to pause potentially affecting cleanup while they ask counsel, rather than encouraging them to make their own scope decision.
Keep role guidance distinct: employees preserve and acknowledge, managers flag team changes, and systems contacts follow approved instructions without deciding scope.
State that reading the guide does not record acknowledgment, and direct employees to the case system and deadline in their own notice.
Show employees how to ask about an item using a general description, without putting case names or confidential evidence into an informal request.
Review the page when Legal and Compliance changes the approved process, and remove obsolete examples or instructions promptly.

What this template typically catches

Issues teams running this template most often surface in practice:

Employees treat a general guide as the source of scope instead of reading their own notice.

A fictional project name or date range is mistaken for a live matter because sample content is not clearly labeled.

A covered chat, calendar entry, local file, or other item is deleted, edited, moved, or reorganized during routine cleanup.

An employee copies a file to a personal account or uses an unapproved preservation method.

A person assumes that reading the guide records acknowledgment and misses the case-system step or notice deadline.

A manager paraphrases the notice’s scope, creating guidance that differs from counsel’s instructions.

A departure, role change, device return, or system change occurs before counsel is told it could affect covered information.

Employees include confidential evidence or case details in a general help request instead of describing the issue without sensitive content.

Common use cases

Employee receiving a notice

An employee uses the opening announcement, scope explanation, and four-step sequence to identify what their own notice says, preserve covered information through its approved tools, and acknowledge receipt in the named case system.

People manager preparing for a team change

A manager uses the role-specific guidance to point employees to their individual notices and alert counsel before a covered employee leaves, changes roles, or returns a device. The page makes clear that managers should not reinterpret legal scope.

Records or systems contact reviewing a retention change

A records or systems contact checks the role guidance before changing a retention setting, archive, or device process that could affect covered information. The page routes scope questions to counsel and limits action to the notice and approved procedures.

Legal and Compliance publishing employee guidance

A Legal and Compliance team adapts the fictional scenario and verifies the organization’s real tools, acknowledgment route, and counsel instructions before publishing the guide as a companion to matter-specific notices.

Frequently asked questions

Does this guide tell me whether a particular file or message is covered?

No. Your legal hold notice defines who is covered, what information is in scope, and the relevant dates. The worked Riverside warehouse example is fictional and illustrates how to read a notice; it does not determine the scope of your matter. Ask the counsel named in your own notice when an item is unclear.

How long do I need to preserve information?

Follow the notice until Legal and Compliance tells you in writing that the hold has been released. Do not resume routine deletion or archiving of covered information based on an assumed end date. If the notice or release is unclear, contact its named counsel.

Who is responsible for carrying out the steps?

Employees read their notices, preserve information as directed, and acknowledge receipt in the named case system. People managers point staff to their individual notices and flag relevant team changes to counsel. Records and systems contacts follow the notice and approved procedures, but do not decide legal scope.

Is this guide legal advice or a statement of legal requirements?

No. It is general employee guidance and explicitly does not replace a notice, approved procedures, or advice from counsel. Legal hold duties and processes vary by matter and organization. Follow the instruction in your notice and consult its named counsel for case-specific direction.

What should I do if I am unsure whether an item is covered?

Do not decide on your own that it is covered or exempt. Avoid deleting, moving, editing, or reorganizing the item while you seek direction, and ask the counsel named in your notice. Describe the type of item and its general context without sending confidential evidence or case details.

Can I use my usual backup, archive, or file-cleanup process?

Do not use a personal cleanup or preservation method in place of the tools or locations named in the notice. Pause a routine action if it could affect potentially covered information, and ask counsel before proceeding. The guide specifically cautions against copying covered files to personal accounts or renaming and reorganizing them.

Does reading this page count as acknowledging the notice?

No. The guide says acknowledgment must be recorded in the case system named in your notice, by the date specified there. Follow the notice's instructions for access or help with that system. If you cannot acknowledge on time, contact the named counsel promptly.

What should a manager do when a covered employee is leaving or changing devices?

Tell the counsel named in the notice before the departure, role change, or device return happens. Do not move or delete information in anticipation of the change. Counsel should confirm the next step; managers should not reinterpret the notice's scope for employees.

Can we customize this template or connect it to our legal systems?

Yes. Replace the fictional Harbor & Pine Group and Riverside example with clearly identified sample content or organization-approved guidance, and align role instructions with your actual approved procedures. The page describes acknowledgment in a case system but does not itself provide a live system integration or preservation workflow. Add only confirmed routes and destinations, such as the counsel and case-system instructions your notices actually provide.

How should we roll this guide out without replacing each employee's notice?

Publish it as a general companion page and make clear that the individual notice remains authoritative. Ensure notices provide the scope, effective date, acknowledgment deadline, approved preservation tools, and counsel contact employees need. Review the guide when approved procedures or notice workflows change, and keep it accessible from the relevant employee or Legal and Compliance page.

Related templates

Sites

Release Notes for Internal Tools

A fictional internal-tool release note explains new reporting-period and source-data timestamps i...

Sites

Planned Technology Maintenance

A ready-to-customize employee announcement for one planned technology maintenance window, with re...

Sites

You Said, We Did

A dated employee-listening update showing what colleagues said, which actions are done, what rema...

Sites

Property Incident Owner Brief

A fictional, dated leadership brief for a localized building incident, showing confirmed impact, ...

Sites

Insurance Renewal Conversation Kit

A fictional, worked-through guide for preparing insurance renewal conversations, exploring custom...

Forms

Expense Reimbursement Request

Expense Reimbursement Request template for capturing employee spend, mileage, and receipts in one...

Inspections

Abandoned Channel Hygiene Audit

Abandoned Channel Hygiene Audit template for reviewing inactive, orphaned, and duplicate communic...

Sop

AWS Resource Tagging Standard Operating Procedure

This AWS Resource Tagging Standard Operating Procedure template helps teams verify tagging rules,...

Go deeper on the topic

Related concepts

AI Governance

AI governance is the framework a company uses to decide what AI tools are allowed to do, who's accountable for their outputs, what data they're allowed to...
Compliance

Compliance is the practice of ensuring employee behavior meets regulatory, contractual, and internal-policy requirements — and of producing the evidence to...
Compliance Training Automation

Compliance training automation is the software-driven process for assigning, tracking, and evidencing required training (HIPAA, harassment prevention,...
Digital Workplace vs Modern Intranet

A modern intranet is a specific surface — typically the home-base destination where employees get company news, find policies, and access key apps. A digital...

Ready to use this template?

Every employee gets a seat. Request pricing for Communications & Intranet and we quote into a workspace with Legal Hold: What Employees Need to Know ready.

Request pricing

Rolled out to every employee at AutoZone (125,000), PetSmart (50,000+), A.S. Watson and Raley's (20,000) — and at larger retailers we are not permitted to name.

Legal hold notice: what to do first Sample notice, effective Monday 3 March: preserve project messages and files 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 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. Employees 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. People managers 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. Records and systems contacts 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. Read the notice and its scope Note who is covered, what information, the time period, the effective date and the counsel to contact. 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. 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. 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.