In developing and implementing a litigation hold in the post-Zubulake and -FRCP amendments world of ediscovery, the attorney should:
- Actively manage the ediscovery process;
- Understand the client's document retention policy;
- Advise the client to temporarily suspend document retention, automatic deletion of documents, system upgrades, and recycling of back-up tapes;
- Identify all persons who may have information regarding the litigation;
- Send written notices to and explain to potential witnesses the types of documents they must preserve (e.g., emails, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, etc.);
- Instruct potential witnesses not to delete any documents or install/uninstall any software programs on their computer.
