Litigation Hold Letter Form

Use a Litigation Hold Letter 0 template to make your document workflow more streamlined.

What a litigation hold letter does

A Litigation Hold Letter Form tells identified custodians to preserve potentially relevant information for a pending or anticipated dispute. It records the matter, preservation scope, custodians, data sources, instructions, and acknowledgment. In signNow, upload the letter, review automatically detected fillable fields, assign fields to the responsible sender or custodian, and send it for electronic acknowledgment. The completed document and audit trail preserve evidence of delivery, intent, signer activity, and completion. Legal teams should define the scope and retention policy with qualified counsel.

How the litigation hold letter works

A litigation hold letter records preservation instructions, identifies custodians, and captures acknowledgment before relevant information is altered or deleted.

Upload the letter: Upload the litigation hold letter and review detected fields.
Complete required fields: Complete custodian, matter, preservation, and acknowledgment fields.
Send for acknowledgment: Send the letter to custodians for electronic acknowledgment.
Store the record: Store the completed letter with its audit trail.

Authenticate signer:

The audit trail records the custodian’s email, authentication, and signing activity.

Capture timestamps:

Each delivery, view, field change, and signature receives a timestamp.

Hash document:

The completed PDF is associated with document-integrity data.

Seal record:

The record preserves evidence of later alteration or completion.

Verify completion:

The sender reviews the finalized letter and completion certificate.

Export evidence:

Authorized users export the letter and audit history together.

Setting	Recommendation
Authentication method	Email link with SMS OTP
Signature type	Electronic acknowledgment
Audit trail	Enabled with completion certificate
Document retention	Matter policy with legal hold override
Encryption	TLS 1.2/1.3 and AES-256

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Field detection

Upload the litigation hold letter and review detected fields before assigning custodians, matter identifiers, acknowledgment fields, and preservation instructions.

Role assignment

Assign each acknowledgment field to the correct custodian, sender, or reviewer so responsibility is visible before distribution.

Controlled delivery

Send preservation instructions by email or signing link while keeping recipient identity and delivery activity in the record.

Audit trail

Capture acknowledgment, timestamps, signer activity, and document history for later review by legal or compliance teams.

Reusable template

Use templates for recurring matter notices while updating the scope, custodians, and data sources for each dispute.

Secure storage

Store completed letters with access controls and encryption appropriate for confidential legal and business information.

Security for hold records

Transport encryption:

TLS 1.2/1.3 in transit

Storage encryption:

AES-256 at rest

Security certification:

SOC 2 Type II certified

Management certification:

ISO 27001 certified

Signature compliance:

ESIGN and UETA compliant

Health data protection:

HIPAA compliant with BAA

Integrations for litigation hold records

Connect litigation hold workflows with Salesforce, NetSuite, Microsoft 365, Google Drive, Box, Egnyte, and enterprise systems to coordinate custodians, documents, and preservation records.

Retention practices for hold letters

Preserve the signed letter, acknowledgment evidence, and audit history under a matter-specific legal records policy.

Set a matter-specific retention period

Set the retention period from the matter’s legal requirements rather than a generic schedule. For HIPAA records, 45 CFR §164.530(j) requires six years from creation or the last effective date. State-law and court-specific obligations may require longer preservation.

Export the audit trail with the letter

Export the completed litigation hold letter and its audit trail after acknowledgment. Keep the original signed PDF, completion certificate, and relevant activity history together so counsel can demonstrate delivery, acknowledgment, and preservation instructions.

Archive records with controlled access

Restrict archived letters to authorized legal, compliance, and records personnel. Use access controls, encryption, and a documented release process; do not destroy a hold record while the dispute, investigation, or preservation obligation remains active.

Document scope changes and reminders

Review custodian acknowledgments and reminders against the matter list. Record changes to custodians, data sources, and scope in a controlled version history instead of silently replacing the original litigation hold letter.

Retention schedules for hold records

A litigation hold overrides routine deletion for relevant information; apply the specific record rule and counsel’s release decision.

Matter-specific duration

Preserve until the matter closes and counsel authorizes release; no universal litigation period applies.

Six years for HIPAA records

Keep six years from creation or last effective date under 45 CFR §164.530(j).

Three years for tax records

Retain tax-related records three years from filing under IRC §6501(a), unless an exception applies.

Employment record schedule

Keep employment records according to the applicable federal and state retention requirement.

Extended legal requirement

Apply any court order, discovery rule, or state requirement that extends preservation.

Risks of an incomplete hold

Notice gap

Missing evidence of notice

Spoliation exposure

Deleted relevant information

Scope dispute

Unclear preservation scope

Acknowledgment gap

Incomplete custodian acknowledgment

Litigation hold letter troubleshooting

Resolve field, authentication, audit-trail, plan, and electronic-record issues before distributing preservation instructions.

Business includes legally binding eSignatures, templates, and audit trails at $8/user/month with annual billing. Business Premium is $15/user/month annually and adds bulk send. Confirm the selected plan before sending multiple custodian notices.

A litigation hold acknowledgment can generally use an electronic signature when the signer intends to sign, consents to electronic records, and the record remains reproducible. ESIGN, 15 U.S.C. ch. 96, and applicable state law, including UETA or New York ESRA, govern the transaction.

signNow audit trails record signer activity, timestamps, and document history. Export the completed letter and audit trail together, then preserve them under the legal department’s litigation-hold policy. The audit trail supports evidence; it does not replace counsel’s preservation analysis.

Business and Business Premium include 100 signature invites per user per year, with overage fees. The Site License is usage-based at $1.50 per signature invite. Select a plan after estimating custodians, reminders, and renewed acknowledgments.

Use assigned fields for the custodian’s name, acknowledgment, date, matter identifier, and preservation instructions. If auto-detection misses a field, add it manually before sending and verify every recipient’s role and signing order.

A hold letter may contain sensitive employment, health, or business information. Restrict access through team permissions, use stronger authentication where needed, and confirm consumer-facing electronic-record disclosures when the signer is a consumer under ESIGN 15 U.S.C. §7001(c).

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