Data preservation isn’t just for litigation – it’s necessary for investigations too. Cimplifi discusses legal holds in investigations here!

In their post titled (wait for it!) Know When to Hold Em: Legal Holds in Investigations (available here), Cimplifi discusses how the obligations that arise in civil litigation often differ in meaningful ways from those triggered by regulatory investigations. While both sets of obligations require organizations to preserve relevant electronically stored information (ESI), the timing, scope, urgency, and strategic considerations can vary significantly.

Understanding these differences is essential for legal, compliance, and information governance teams tasked with navigating high stakes matters. Missteps – whether through delay, overreach, or misalignment – can expose organizations to sanctions, adverse findings, or reputational damage.

At a high level, both civil litigation and regulatory investigations impose a duty to preserve relevant information once a triggering event occurs. In civil litigation, that trigger is typically when litigation is reasonably anticipated. In regulatory investigations, the trigger could arise even earlier – sometimes before a formal inquiry is launched.

In both contexts, the core expectations are similar:

• Identify relevant custodians and data sources
• Issue timely and clear legal hold notices
• Suspend routine deletion practices
• Monitor compliance and document preservation efforts

Legal holds in investigations can differ from those in litigation in terms of triggering events, scope, speed and urgency, custodian engagement, documentation, defensibility, technology and coordination. How? Find out here, it’s only one click! You can’t investigate without clicking! 😉

So, what do you think? How is your organization managing legal holds? Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Image created using Microsoft Designer, using the term “professionally dressed robots at a poker table playing poker with some holding cards”.

Disclosure: Cimplifi is an Educational Partner and sponsor of eDiscovery Today

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by my employer, my partners or my clients. eDiscovery Today is made available solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscovery Today should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.