What does the future of legal holds look like in eDiscovery? Cimplifi discusses that in their last post in their legal hold blog series!

In their post titled (wait for it!) Know When to Hold Em: The Future of Legal Holds (available here), Cimplifi notes that if the past two decades of eDiscovery have taught us anything, it’s that preservation practices evolve at the speed of data. What began as a relatively contained exercise – preserving emails and documents – has expanded into a complex, modern data challenge spanning cloud platforms, collaboration tools, mobile devices, structured databases, and now generative AI.

Looking ahead, the next wave of technological innovation will once again reshape how organizations approach legal holds. The duty to preserve will remain constant, but the tools, expectations, and risks associated with that duty will continue to evolve. The future of legal holds will be defined by automation, intelligence, integration, and an ever-expanding universe of data sources.

Historically, legal holds have been reactive. A triggering event occurs (i.e., litigation, an investigation, or some other dispute) and legal teams respond by identifying custodians and issuing hold notices. While this model still applies, the future is moving toward a more proactive preservation posture.

Organizations are increasingly investing in systems that continuously map data sources, monitor risk signals, and prepare for potential preservation scenarios before they arise. Instead of scrambling to understand where data lives after a trigger, legal teams will have real-time visibility into systems, custodians, and retention policies.

This shift is driven in part by the sheer speed of modern data creation. In environments where messages can be created and deleted in seconds, waiting to act is no longer viable. Proactive readiness – supported by data mapping, governance frameworks, and integrated systems – will become a defining feature of defensible preservation.

So, what are other defining characteristics for the future of legal holds? Find out here, it’s only one click! I see a click in your future! 😉

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.