Legal Hold Management & E-Discovery | Legal.ge

LegalHoldManagement

When should I issue a Legal Hold?

As soon as litigation becomes reasonably anticipated (e.g., receiving a claim letter or a serious incident occurs), not just when a lawsuit is filed.

Does Legal Hold apply to personal correspondence?

If personal correspondence is on a work device and relevant to the dispute, it may be subject to preservation, though access is strictly regulated.

What if an employee deletes a file anyway?

If you sent a Legal Hold instruction, it mitigates company liability, but IT systems should also technically restrict deletion.

How long does a Legal Hold last?

Until the dispute is finally resolved (including the expiration of appeal periods) or until the parties settle.

Legal Hold Management and Evidence Preservation

When a company anticipates litigation or an investigation begins, it is obligated to suspend standard data destruction processes and preserve all relevant information. This process is called a "Legal Hold." It is a critical moment because if the company's IT system automatically deletes emails or logs that constitute evidence, the court may view this as "Spoliation of Evidence." This leads to severe sanctions and often losing the case. Legal Hold Management services help organizations manage this process correctly to comply with the law and protect their interests.

Our service ensures legal and technical coordination of the data preservation process. Specialists offer:

Legal Hold Notification Drafting: Sending official instructions to employees (Custodians) not to delete specific documents or emails.
Data Scope Identification: Determining what type of data is relevant to the specific dispute (e.g., only 2023 emails or chat history as well).
IT System Configuration: Working with the IT department to suspend automatic deletion/overwriting policies for specific users.
Preservation Process Monitoring: Periodic checks to ensure the hold regime is not violated and whether the Legal Hold needs updating.
Releasing the Hold: Lifting the hold regime after the dispute ends and restoring the standard data lifecycle.

Practical example: A company is sued by a former employee for wrongful termination. Under company policy, a terminated employee's email is deleted in 30 days. If the company did not issue a Legal Hold and the email was deleted, the company cannot present the emails proving the employee's misconduct in court. Consequently, the company loses the case. On the other hand, an overly broad Legal Hold ("keep everything") increases IT costs and creates a risk that other, irrelevant data might become accessible to the opposing party.

In Georgia, this process is regulated by the Civil Procedure Code (obligation to present evidence) and the Criminal Procedure Code. Although the term "Legal Hold" is American, its essence (preservation of evidence) is part of Georgian law. A party has an obligation to act in good faith and not obstruct justice.

Working with a lawyer begins as soon as the threat of litigation arises (e.g., upon receiving a claim letter). The lawyer defines the "preservation scope" and prepares a legally binding instruction. This document can later be used in court to prove that you made a good faith effort to preserve evidence.

Legal.ge gives you access to litigation and IT law experts. Losing evidence is an irreversible process. Protect your position in court by issuing a timely and correct Legal Hold.