What can legal hold services do, and do they help attorneys who rely on professional trial support services?
Below, Key Discovery outlines some of the details surrounding these helpful services. The team also discusses how litigation may benefit from proper procedures around discovering and preserving digital information for trial.
The Basics of a Legal Hold
The term ‘legal hold’ applies to situations where a group or organization holds important digital information for litigation purposes. The idea is to locate and preserve essential information in ways that allow the legal team to browse through it as needed before, during, and after a trial. The safer you can keep the data, the more organized you will be at the most crucial moments during litigation when you want to avoid mishaps.
More About the Legal Hold Process: Step-by-Step
Does your organization have an investigation on the go? Appropriately retaining records is a vital step in maintaining momentum in and out of the courtroom. If there are no procedures in place or standard requirements for how employees hold information, the litigation will buckle under inconsistency and data integrity issues.
eDiscovery standards and requirements differ widely between organizations, but firms benefit greatly from a consistent approach within their circle of influence. A legal hold may depend on the organization’s goals, who it serves, and how it wants to hold its information. It also depends on the type of data involved, and some flexibility is helpful for facilitating a better litigation process.
Three Steps For a Secure Legal Hold Process
Services like Key Discovery will help attorneys with legal holds to make the process more manageable. They typically follow three steps during the hold process, including:
- Identifying information
- Issuing a Legal Notice
- Holding the Information
Step One: Information Specifics
The first step in a legal hold is to identify what information needs preserving. You must know what employees or staff are responsible for those information or records.
Step Two: Notices and Requests
Next, the attorneys will issue a legal notice to notify the staff of the situation. Writing the legal notice requires having all the information on hand for the smoothest possible legal hold and litigation process. Most notices arrive by email, but there are times when a hard copy could be more secure.
The notice should provide clear and direct instructions about how to correctly hold the information, so avoid legal information or vocabulary that is hard to understand. Legal hold services can make this part of the process far easier.
There should also be a request for an acknowledgment to track that involved parties have read the notice and are aware of the legal hold instructions. Add a confirmation button in the email or include other instructions on how the recipient could proceed with their acknowledgment.
A legal notice process should also include:
- Clarity surrounding social media, messages, and blogs
- Periodic reminders
- Directions regarding employees who might be leaving
- Consequences of improperly following the legal hold process
- Details about others may contact for questions
- Specific instructions about how to send an acknowledgment of the hold policy
A thorough legal notice will also include a description of why correctly preserving the information is important. It will also explain the situation, the timeframe, and the information required for holding.
Step Three: Recording and Storing
The final step is clear documentation that records every part of the legal hold process. The team should carefully measure and record pertinent information for use in and after the litigation.
Legal Hold Solutions: Discovery and Trial Presentation
Services that offer support during the legal hold process are a great choice for attorneys who want to take advantage of software solutions to boost their productivity. These programs make everything run more efficiently, including notifying staff about holds and other procedures. For example, there is excellent software available to help with interviews on tablets or mobile devices for convenient but secure interactions.
It also offers simple templates, customizable questions, and ways to record responses to suit the style of the litigation. Integration of other software may also help with tracking staff changes due to promotions, switching roles, or leaving the company. All the team needs to do is plug in the information to the software program for instant electronic notifications sent directly to the right person.
How Better Legal Hold Procedures Streamline Trial Support Services
Assistance in the legal hold process makes it easier to get ready for a trial. A service like Key Discovery includes myriad trial support services, including:
- Access to courtroom presentation software and equipment rental
- Courtroom trial mounts and presentations
- 24/7 trial assistance for visiting law firms
- Facilities for organizing and printing
- Jury handbooks
- Witness kits
- Trial contact technology and more
Services like this help legal teams to organize and simplify their trial presentations, including expertise, equipment, and trial tech setup that might make the presentation more memorable.
Legal Hold: eDiscovery Services
The need for legal holds is part and parcel of providing reliable litigation services, so why not rely on professional legal hold and trial support services to minimize the stress involved?
Should You Work With a Legal Hold Services Specialist?
A legal hold typically requires retaining a large amount of information and ensuring that no relevant information unexpectedly disappears. Support makes these requirements easier to manage, which is an excellent option for law firms trying to avoid potential problems. It also gives you more efficient ways to store the records for use later.
Services that specialize in legal holds will:
- Decrease the attorney’s workload
- Provide the latest methods and tools
- Preserve the information properly
- Store the records securely for convenient access at trial
Legal Hold Inside of eDiscovery
A team like Key Discovery stores and collects data for eDiscovery, including managing different cases and project sizes. We assist you in the legal hold of eDiscovery by:
- Collecting and then preserving the records you require
- Reviewing and producing the stored information
- Organizing relevant information for trial preparation and much more
Are you interested in these types of trial support services? Reach out to Key Discovery today for help with trial presentations, supplies, courtroom technology, and highly efficient legal hold services.