Also known as a legal hold, document hold, hold order, or preservation order. An instruction within a business organization directing employees to preserve, and refrain from destroying or modifying, certain records and information (both paper and electronic) that may be relevant to the subject matter of a pending or anticipated lawsuit or investigation. A litigation hold helps ensure that the company complies with its duty to preserve information, including electronically stored information (ESI), in litigation or in connection with an investigation.

Organizations must preserve relevant information when they reasonably anticipate a lawsuit or investigation. Their duty to preserve stems from:

For more information on litigation holds, see Litigation Hold Toolkit. For a sample litigation hold notice, see Standard Document, Litigation Hold Notice.