Legal Services Offshore blog
Tracking legal hold acknowledgments
A custodian tracker for hold notices, reminders, and acknowledgments that preserves the evidence without deciding preservation scope.
A hold is only effective when it is received
Sending a hold notice is the start of the process. The record that matters is who received it, who acknowledged it, and who has not. A tracker makes that gap visible before a preservation dispute.
Record the notice and the population
List each custodian with the identifier, the notice date, the delivery method, the acknowledgment date, and the reminder history. Record the approver of the custodian list and the date it was finalized.
Track delivery separately from acknowledgment
An email that was delivered is not an acknowledgment. Record the delivery event and the acknowledgment as separate fields. Where a custodian leaves the company, record the forward address and the person who assumed the obligation.
Follow up on a schedule
Send reminders at defined intervals and record each one. Escalate unanswered notices to the lawyer or the custodian’s manager. Do not mark a custodian compliant because a reminder was sent.
Preserve the evidence
Keep the notices, delivery reports, acknowledgments, and reminder log in the matter system. Do not edit an earlier entry; add a correction with the date and the source.
Leave scope decisions to counsel
The tracker records the process. Counsel decides who should be on hold, what data is in scope, when the hold is released, and how the release is documented.