Litigation Hold Notice Generator, Free for Counsel, HR, and IT
Build a complete litigation hold notice in minutes: issuing counsel block, matter description, preservation scope with an editable data-type checklist, suspension of auto-delete, and an acknowledgment section. Address it to one custodian as a litigation hold letter or to everyone as a litigation hold memo, then download it as a PDF or Word file. No signup, no email required.
Quick answer: A litigation hold notice is a written directive telling the people who hold potentially relevant documents and data (the custodians) to preserve them for a lawsuit, investigation, or audit. The duty to preserve arises when litigation is reasonably anticipated, not when a complaint is filed, and failing to preserve risks sanctions and an adverse inference. An effective notice names the matter, sets a date range and subject matters, lists concrete data types, suspends auto-delete and retention schedules, and collects an acknowledgment from every custodian. This generator produces that document, ready to distribute.
What triggers this hold?
Issuing Party (Counsel or Company Representative)
Who receives it?
The Matter
This follows the phrase “the Company reasonably anticipates litigation concerning” in the notice. Keep it factual and neutral; every custodian will read it.
Stuck on the wording? We can tidy up what you have written here: chronological order, plainer sentences, the neutral tone a letter like this needs. We only rework your own words. We never add a date, an amount, a name or a claim you did not write, and any suggestion that slips one in is thrown away rather than shown to you. Nothing changes until you accept it, and you should read every line before you send the letter.
Preservation Scope
Most holds run through “the present” and forward until released.
Data types covered (check what applies, edit the wording to match your systems)
Notice Options
Questions Contact
Leave blank to use the issuer above. Custodians will be told to direct all questions, and any acknowledgment, to this person.
This tool provides general information, not legal advice, and using it does not create an attorney-client relationship. The scope of a preservation duty depends on your facts and your jurisdiction, and an under-scoped or unenforced hold can carry serious consequences. Have counsel review the scope, the custodian list, and the follow-up plan before this notice goes out.
When the hold turns into collection and review, we can carry the load
A hold notice is step one. When the matter moves to collecting, reviewing, and producing what you preserved, our attorneys and paralegals handle document review at scale, with defensible workflows and clear reporting.
Explore Document Review ServicesWhat Is a Litigation Hold Notice?
A litigation hold notice, also called a legal hold notice or a document preservation notice, is the written instrument a company uses to stop the ordinary destruction of information once a specific matter puts that information at risk of being needed as evidence. In the ordinary course, organizations delete constantly: mailboxes are pruned, chat messages expire, backups are overwritten, and departing employees' laptops are wiped and reissued. A hold notice interrupts all of that, for a defined scope of people, time, and subject matter, until the matter is resolved and the hold is released in writing.
The notice does two jobs at once. It is an operational instruction, telling named custodians and IT exactly what to stop deleting and which auto-destruction processes to suspend. And it is evidence of process: if an opposing party later claims information was destroyed, the company's best answer is a dated notice with a defined scope, a custodian list, tracked acknowledgments, and periodic reminders. Companies that manage frequent holds often fold this work into their broader litigation support process so that scoping, tracking, and release follow the same playbook every time.
A hold notice is not a collection. It does not gather documents, and it deliberately tells custodians not to gather them either, because untrained copying and moving changes dates and other metadata. Preservation first, collection later, under supervision: that sequence is what keeps the record defensible.
Key Point: Sending the Notice Is Not the Same as Preserving
The most common hold failure is silent and automatic: an email retention rule, a chat auto-delete setting, or a backup rotation keeps destroying data after the notice went out, because no one told IT to suspend it. A defensible hold pairs the notice to custodians with a same-day instruction to the people who administer the systems. If a departing employee's account or device may hold covered data, it gets preserved before it is wiped or reassigned, not after.
When the Duty to Preserve Arises
The duty to preserve does not wait for a lawsuit to be filed. It arises when litigation, a government inquiry, or a similar proceeding is reasonably anticipated: when a reasonable organization in your position would understand that the information may be needed as evidence. A demand letter, a lawyer's preservation request, a serious internal complaint, a regulator's informal questions, a workplace accident with injuries, or a contract dispute that has clearly stopped being a negotiation can each be the trigger. The precise standard is applied case by case and varies by jurisdiction, which is exactly why the operational rule is simple: when in doubt, issue the hold.
The consequences of getting it wrong are asymmetric. Issuing a hold early costs some administrative effort and a temporary exception to the retention schedule. Failing to preserve after the duty arose can cost far more: courts can impose monetary sanctions, instruct that the missing information be presumed unfavorable, restrict claims or defenses, or impose other penalties, with the severity generally tracking how culpable the loss was. We do not cite specific cases or rule numbers here because the governing standards differ across jurisdictions; your litigation counsel can map the specifics for your forum.
Timing also matters on the other side of the docket. If you are the party anticipating a claim against someone else, sending the opposing party a preservation demand early protects the evidence you will need. The hold notice this tool generates is the internal half of that discipline: it protects what your own organization holds.
Who Counts as a Custodian in a Litigation Hold Letter
A custodian is anyone who possesses or controls potentially relevant information, which is a wider circle than the people named in the dispute. Start with the direct participants: the employees involved in the events, the counterparty-facing staff, the decision makers. Then work outward through the people who touch the same records: assistants who manage calendars and email, managers who received reports, HR and finance staff who hold the files, and the IT administrators who control mailboxes, chat workspaces, backups, and retention settings. IT deserves special attention because IT is both a custodian and the operator of the destruction processes the hold must suspend.
Third parties belong on the list too: payroll processors, cloud vendors, outside consultants, and contractors may hold company information that is within the company's control for preservation purposes. They typically receive a separate preservation request rather than the internal memo. For wider employee groups, the all-custodians memo mode of this generator produces one document you can distribute broadly, while key players get an individually addressed litigation hold letter so their acknowledgment is personal and trackable.
Custodian lists are living documents. Discovery in the matter, such as answers to an interrogatories template or documents produced under a request for production template, routinely surfaces new names. Each new custodian gets the notice, and the scope-of-people section in the generated document asks every recipient to identify others who may hold relevant data, so the list grows the way it should: early, from the inside.
Scoping Data Types in a Document Preservation Notice
A hold that says “preserve all relevant documents” and stops there is hard to follow and hard to defend. The generator ships with the checklist below, each entry editable, so the notice names the actual systems your custodians use. The table summarizes where each source silently loses data and what the hold should say about it.
| Data Source | Silent Destruction Risk | What the Hold Should Direct |
|---|---|---|
| Retention rules, mailbox size limits, deleted-items purges | Suspend auto-deletion for custodian mailboxes; preserve archives and PST files | |
| Chat and messaging platforms | Workspace-level auto-delete and message expiry settings | Turn off expiry for covered channels and direct messages; note the change date |
| Text messages, personal devices used for work | App auto-delete, device trade-ins, custodian cleanups | Tell custodians their own devices are covered; disable auto-delete; coordinate collection with counsel |
| Shared drives and cloud storage | Version pruning, trash emptying, license downgrades | Preserve folders in place, including version history and trash |
| Devices of departing employees | Standard wipe-and-reissue on exit | Image or hold the device and accounts before offboarding proceeds |
| Databases and structured data | Record purges, field overwrites, system migrations | Suspend purge jobs for covered records; preserve exports before migrations |
| Backups | Rotation schedules overwrite older media | Pull covered backup sets out of rotation until counsel confirms scope |
| Paper files, calendars, voicemail | Shredding schedules, calendar cleanups, mailbox purges | Suspend shredding for covered files; preserve calendars and recordings in place |
Pro Tip: Make the Acknowledgment Do the Work
An unacknowledged hold is a hold you cannot prove anyone read. Use the signature block for key custodians and the reply-to-confirm line for broad email distributions, then keep a simple tracker: who received it, who confirmed, who got a follow-up. When scope changes or new custodians appear, send an updated notice and collect fresh acknowledgments. If preservation is ever challenged, that tracker is the first exhibit you will be glad exists.
Why Acknowledgments and Reminders Matter for a Legal Hold
A hold is only as good as its follow-through, and follow-through has two visible artifacts: acknowledgments and reminders. The acknowledgment converts the notice from something that was sent into something that was received and understood, custodian by custodian. The reminder cadence answers the problem that matters run for months or years while employees change roles, forget instructions, and keep generating new information that is also covered. Periodic reminders, commonly somewhere between every 30 and 90 days, keep the obligation live and demonstrate an ongoing, supervised process rather than a one-time email.
The generated notice supports both habits: choose a signature-and-date acknowledgment or a reply-to-confirm line, and optionally state the reminder cadence in the document itself so custodians expect the follow-ups and understand that silence never ends a hold. Releasing the hold gets the same formality in reverse, a written release notice, so every custodian can point to a documented start and end.
From Litigation Hold Memo to Collection and Review
Preservation is the first phase of a pipeline. Once the matter progresses, the material frozen by your litigation hold memo gets collected, processed, reviewed for relevance and privilege, and produced. That review phase is usually the most expensive and labor-intensive part of discovery, and it is where an in-house team or a small firm feels the squeeze first. Our document review services put trained attorneys and paralegals on exactly that work: first-pass relevance review, privilege screening, issue tagging, and production preparation, with defensible workflows and clear reporting back to the counsel who own the matter.
Teams that face this repeatedly often go a step further and hand the recurring pieces, review, summaries, deposition preparation materials, and drafting, to a dedicated partner through legal process outsourcing, keeping strategy in-house while the volume work scales up and down with the docket. In-house departments that want ongoing support across contracts, compliance, and disputes can see how we structure that in our corporate legal services. Either way, the hold notice you issue today decides how clean that later work is: a well-scoped hold means the review starts from an intact, documented record.
Releasing a Litigation Hold
Holds end the way they begin: in writing. When the matter fully concludes, including any appeal period and any related claims, counsel confirms that nothing else requires the same information, checks for overlapping holds and regulatory retention obligations, and then issues a release notice telling custodians that normal retention schedules resume for the covered material. Skipping the formal release creates the opposite problem a hold solves: data accumulates indefinitely, storage and risk grow, and nobody can say which obligations still apply. A disciplined lifecycle, written notice, tracked acknowledgments, periodic reminders, written release, is what makes the whole process defensible from either direction.
One caution on scope during the release: if some custodians or subject matters remain subject to another matter, release the hold only for the portions that are truly clear, and say so explicitly. Related discovery instruments, like the subpoena template in our litigation library, can help you see what third parties may still demand from the same record before you let it go.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a litigation hold notice?
A litigation hold notice (also called a legal hold notice, litigation hold letter, or document preservation notice) is a written directive from a company or its counsel telling specific people, called custodians, to preserve documents, data, and other information that may be relevant to a lawsuit, investigation, or audit. It identifies the matter, states the date range and subject matters covered, lists the data types that must be preserved, suspends routine destruction such as auto-delete policies, and tells custodians who to contact with questions. Its purpose is to make sure potentially relevant evidence still exists when it is needed.
When should a litigation hold be issued?
A litigation hold should be issued as soon as litigation, an investigation, or a similar proceeding is reasonably anticipated, which is often well before anything is filed. Receiving a demand letter, learning of a serious workplace complaint, a regulator opening an inquiry, or a dispute that credibly threatens suit can all start the duty to preserve. The exact trigger is judged case by case and varies by jurisdiction, so the safe practice is to issue the hold early: a hold sent too soon costs little, while relevant information destroyed after the duty arose can lead to sanctions and adverse inference.
Who should receive a litigation hold notice?
Anyone who is likely to possess or control potentially relevant information: the employees directly involved in the events, their managers and assistants, the departments that hold the records (HR, finance, sales, operations), and IT staff who administer email, chat, backups, and retention settings. Third parties such as vendors, cloud providers, and contractors may also hold company data and may need a separate preservation request. It is common to send an individual litigation hold letter to key custodians and an all-custodians memo to wider groups, then track who has acknowledged.
What should a litigation hold letter include?
A complete litigation hold letter includes: who is issuing it (counsel or a company representative), who it is addressed to, a plain-language description of the matter, the preservation directive with a date range, subject matters, and specific data types, an instruction suspending auto-delete policies, retention schedules, and device recycling, a warning not to delete, alter, or self-collect, a note to identify others who may hold relevant data, a contact for questions, an acknowledgment of receipt, and a statement that the hold continues until released in writing. The generator on this page builds every one of these sections.
What data types should a legal hold cover?
Whatever could hold relevant information, described concretely enough that a custodian knows what to do. Typical categories are email (including archives and deleted-items folders), chat and messaging platforms, text messages on company and personal devices used for work, shared drives and cloud storage, local files on laptops and phones, paper files, calendars, voicemail and call recordings, social media used for work, databases and structured systems such as CRM and accounting software, and backups. The riskiest sources are the ones that destroy data automatically: messaging auto-delete settings, backup rotation, and device wiping for departing employees.
Is a litigation hold notice privileged?
Hold notices are commonly marked privileged and confidential because they are prepared at the direction of counsel in anticipation of litigation. Whether a court will actually protect the notice from disclosure, and how much of it, varies by jurisdiction and by circumstances: when preservation itself becomes disputed, courts sometimes order details about the hold, such as when it was issued and to whom, to be disclosed even if the full text stays protected. Treat the banner as standard practice, not a guarantee, and keep the notice professional enough that disclosure would not hurt you.
What happens if an employee deletes information after a legal hold?
Losing information that should have been preserved can have serious consequences for the company and, in some situations, for individuals. Depending on the jurisdiction and on whether the loss was negligent or intentional, courts can impose monetary sanctions, order that the missing information be presumed unfavorable (an adverse inference), limit claims or defenses, or impose other penalties. This is why a hold notice tells custodians that compliance is mandatory, why IT must suspend automatic deletion rather than relying on individuals alone, and why acknowledgments and reminders matter.
Do we need signed acknowledgments of a litigation hold?
Acknowledgments are strongly recommended. A signed acknowledgment, or a recorded reply-to-confirm email, proves that each custodian received the notice, read it, and understood the obligation. If preservation is later challenged, that record is the difference between showing a documented, supervised process and arguing about who knew what. Acknowledgments also change behavior: a custodian who signed something treats the hold as real. Track responses and follow up individually with anyone who does not confirm.
How often should litigation hold reminders be sent?
There is no fixed legal schedule, but periodic reminders are widely treated as part of a defensible hold process because memories fade, employees change roles, and new information keeps being created while the matter is pending. Common practice is a reminder every 30 to 90 days, plus a fresh notice when the scope changes or new custodians are identified. The generator lets you state the planned cadence in the notice itself so custodians expect the reminders and know that silence does not mean the hold ended.
Does a litigation hold apply to text messages and personal devices?
It can. If employees use personal phones or accounts for work, the work-related messages on them may be within the company's preservation obligation, and a hold notice should say so explicitly, because custodians rarely assume their own phone is covered. The mechanics are sensitive: the company usually cannot seize a personal device, so the notice directs the custodian to preserve the messages, disable auto-delete for the relevant apps, and contact the hold administrator about collection. How far the duty reaches into personal devices depends on the facts and the jurisdiction, so scope this section with counsel.
What is the difference between a litigation hold and a document retention policy?
A document retention policy is the company's routine schedule for keeping and destroying records in the ordinary course of business. A litigation hold is the exception that overrides it: when a specific matter triggers the duty to preserve, the hold suspends the routine destruction of anything within its scope until the hold is released. A company can keep operating its retention policy for everything outside the hold, which is why a well-scoped document preservation notice matters: it protects the evidence without freezing the whole organization.
How is a litigation hold released?
In writing, by the issuer or counsel, once the matter has fully concluded and no related claim, appeal, or overlapping hold still requires the information. A release notice tells custodians the hold has ended and that normal retention schedules resume for the covered material. Before releasing, check whether any of the same information is subject to another hold or to a regulatory retention requirement. Never let a hold lapse informally: custodians should be able to point to a written start and a written end.
Related Legal Tools
This page and the notices it generates provide general information, not legal advice, and using them does not create an attorney-client relationship. Preservation duties, their triggers, and the consequences of noncompliance vary by jurisdiction and by the facts of the matter. Have your litigation counsel confirm the scope, the custodian list, and the follow-up plan for any hold before it is distributed.
Need Help Beyond the Hold Notice?
When the hold matures into collection, review, and production, our attorneys and paralegals handle the volume: first-pass review, privilege screening, summaries, and drafting, on your timeline. Or get a fixed quote for a hold notice and preservation plan drafted around your systems and your matter.