Litigation Hold Policy

The following sample essay on “Litigation Hold Policy”: deals with a framework of research-based facts, approaches, and arguments concerning this theme. To see the essay’s introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion, read on. Premier CollegeLitigation Hold Notice POLICIES Issued: November 21,2011 Responsible Official: President Responsible Legal Counsel/Chief Information Officer Office: Policy Statement Policy Statement Premier College has a legal obligation to preserve evidence and records, including electronic documents that are relevant to a pending or potential claim or action, such as a government audit, administrative proceeding, or lawsuit.

Upon notice of pending litigation or anticipated, Premier College must implement a Litigation Hold Notice that requires the retention of certain paper and electronic records for an indefinite period of time due to pending state or federal litigation. Each employee of Premier College is responsible for acting in compliance with the Litigation Hold Notice regarding the preservation and maintenance of evidence relevant to pending litigation. The Office of Legal Counsel together with the Chief Information Officer at Premier College is responsible for implementing the Litigation Hold Procedures upon notice of the need for a litigation hold to preserve relevant electronically stored information and paper documents.

Identifying instances in which a Litigation Hold Notice is required and its subsequent implementation requires collaboration of multiple individuals within , Premier College, including the Records Coordinator. Purpose This policy and procedures applies to all personnel and covers all records, regardless of form, made or received in the transaction of Premier College business. Definition Definitions A “Litigation Hold Notice ” is an order to cease destruction and preserve all records, regardless of form, related to the nature or subject of the legal hold.

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Litigation Hold Procedure The process whereby Premier College sends a notice to all involved departments suspending the normal operation of document destruction polices for particular records relevant to any pending or potential claim or action.

Notwithstanding the applicable records retention schedule, documents that are subject to a particular Litigation Hold Notice must be retained until the hold is removed. Records Coordinator The Records Coordinator, as designated by the Vice-President for Business and Finance, has the authority and responsibility to dispose of paper and electronic documents in accordance with approved records disposition authorizations policies, per Premier College Records Management Program. Evidence Includes all records, whether in electronic or paper form, created, received, or maintained in the transaction of University business, whether conducted at home or work. Such evidence may include, but is not limited to, paper records and electronic records stored on servers, desktop or laptop hard drives, tapes, flash drives, memory sticks, DVDs, or CD-ROMs.

Electronically Stored Information (ESI) Refers to all forms of electronic data and documents. Electronic records” includes all forms of electronic communications, including, but not limited to, e-mail, word processing documents, spreadsheets, databases, instant messages, calendars, voice messages, videotapes, audio recordings, photographs, SharePoint files, Wiki materials, telephone or meeting logs, contact manager information, Internet usage files, and information stored in PDAs, Blackberry devices, or removable media. Procedures Notification of Litigation . All employees have an affirmative duty to inform the Office of Legal Counsel when they receive notification of any claim or action or threat of any claim or action against the College.  Employees are considered to be in receipt of notice of a claim or action when they receive a complaint, summons, and/or another official document (s) related to a lawsuit or claim.  The Office of Legal Counsel will determine whether the notification received warrants issuance of a Litigation Hold Notice.

Employee’s Notification of Litigation to Legal Counsel 1. Employees who have notice of any pending or potential claim or action against Premier College must inform the Office of Legal Counsel, in writing, of the matter. The Office of Legal Counsel will determine whether to initiate a legal hold and to identify Premier College personnel subject to the hold. 2. This notification must occur within two business days of their receipt of the notification. Issuance of Litigation Hold Notice Letter. College counsel will issue an Official Litigation Hold Notice Letter regarding the matter to the appropriate individuals within five business days of receipt of notification of pending litigation.  The Litigation Hold Notice Letter shall provide the categories of electronic and paper documents, including ESI, that must be retained until further notice and that electronic information must be preserved in its original electronic form, so that all information contained within it, whether visible or not, is also available for inspection.

Employee’s Compliance with Litigation Hold Notice Letter 1. All employees who receive notice of the hold must give confirmation of receipt of the hold notice along with a statement agreeing to abide by the litigation hold within one week of receipt of the hold notice. All employees must immediately suspend deletion, purging, overwriting, or any other destruction of electronic information relevant to this dispute that is under their control. This includes electronic information wherever it is stored, including, but not limited to, on hard drives of College work station desktops or laptops, on flash drives, CD-ROMs, DVDs, memory sticks, tapes, zip disks, diskettes, PDAs, etc. This electronic information must be preserved so that it can be retrieved at a later time and must be preserved in its original electronic form, so that all information contained within it, whether visible or not, is also available for inspection. It is not sufficient to make a hard copy of electronic communication.

Electronic records must be retained in the original format (e. g. burned to a disk/CD saved in a secure folder on the system server that is not subjected to unannounced deletion, etc. ) 5. It is the responsibility of the individuals to whom the litigation hold notice is issued to retain all records that are responsive to the notice until they receive written notification that the litigation hold has been removed. 6. Preserve any new electronic information that is generated after receipt of the legal hold notice that is relevant to the subject of the notice.This should be done by creating separate mailboxes and files and segregating all future electronically stored information in these separate mailboxes and files. Violations Violations of this policy and procedures are subject to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.

FAQs Q; What is anticipated litigation? A; Litigation is anticipated where Premier College receives information that a claim or dispute has arisen which has a strong possibility of becoming litigation. This is a fact specific inquiry which shall be done in consultation with the Office of Legal Counsel. Some examples include EEOC complaints, Office of Civil Rights complaints, government or internal investigations, and claims filed with the Claims Commission. Q; What happens once I receive the Litigation Hold Notice? A; The Litigation Hold Notice will provide the description of the materials that need to be protected as well as how the information should be stored. The Office of Legal Counsel will provide guidance throughout this process and the Information Technology Division will assist employees in storing relevant ESI.