Is It Worth the Risk? How to Implement a World Class Defensible Legal Hold Process

$642,337.65 in attorneys’ fees and costs, ordered over lost text messages in a single spoliation dispute.
Source: Oakley v. MSG Networks Inc.

Legal holds help organizations preserve potentially relevant information when litigation, an investigation, or another preservation obligation is reasonably anticipated. Yet many legal teams still manage this critical process through email, spreadsheets, and disconnected systems. A missed custodian, an unacknowledged notice, or an incomplete record can make it harder to demonstrate that reasonable preservation steps were taken.

This white paper examines how legal hold standards have evolved, where manual processes commonly break down, and how purpose-built technology can help Legal manage holds with greater consistency, visibility, and control. It also lays out a five-stage operating model for building a defensible process, from governance through release and audit.

In this white paper, you’ll find:

• How the legal hold standard evolved: from Zubulake v. UBS Warburg in 2004 to the 2015 amendment to Rule 37(e), and why preservation now has to cover a much broader information environment
• Where manual processes break down: the most common gaps, from outdated custodian lists to untracked acknowledgments and missed role changes, and why they are hard to explain after the fact
• A five-stage operating model: Govern, Trigger and Scope, Notify and Confirm, Monitor and Adapt, and Release and Audit
• Nine essential features to know before buying legal hold software: a practical checklist for evaluating any platform beyond notice distribution
• How to measure the business case: the baselines Legal should set for administrative effort, acknowledgment time, overdue actions, overlapping holds, and audit-record preparation

This white paper is designed for General Counsel, legal operations leaders, and litigation and compliance professionals who want to understand what makes a legal hold process defensible, and whether their current approach will hold up as preservation obligations grow more complex.