What Is a Litigation Hold Letter and What Should My Business Do? Florida and North Carolina Guide

A litigation hold letter is a notice directing a business, employee, officer, vendor, or other person to preserve documents, electronically stored information, and physical evidence because litigation is pending or reasonably anticipated. If your business receives or needs to issue a litigation hold, do not ignore it, delete records, rely on ordinary retention policies, or assume only “important” documents matter.

In Florida, North Carolina, and federal civil litigation, a litigation hold can affect discovery, sanctions, injunctions, settlement leverage, trial proof, expert analysis, subpoenas, and appeal rights. The safest approach is to identify what must be preserved, who controls it, where it is stored, how automatic deletion works, and what steps are needed to show reasonable preservation.

The answer depends on several factors

What your business should do with a litigation hold letter depends on:

1. Whether litigation has already been filed or is only reasonably anticipated

2. Whether your business received a hold letter from someone else or needs to send one internally

3. Whether the dispute is in Florida state court, North Carolina state court, federal court, arbitration, Business Court, or another forum

4. Whether the evidence involves emails, text messages, Slack or Teams messages, CRM data, accounting records, cloud files, metadata, device data, surveillance footage, access logs, or physical items

5. Whether automatic deletion, overwriting, retention schedules, device upgrades, or employee departures could destroy relevant evidence

6. Whether confidential information, trade secrets, customer records, employee records, financial data, privileged communications, or personal data are involved

7. Whether officers, employees, contractors, vendors, IT providers, accountants, bookkeepers, or former employees control responsive information

8. Whether a subpoena, demand letter, lawsuit, injunction motion, insurance notice, arbitration demand, or government inquiry has already been received

9. Whether the business needs forensic collection, imaging, export tools, or outside e-discovery support

10. Whether failure to preserve could lead to sanctions, adverse instructions, evidence exclusion, fee awards, default, dismissal, contempt, or appeal issues

11. Whether the evidence affects emergency injunctions, asset preservation, lost profits, fraud claims, contract disputes, or appellate preservation

12. Whether the hold should be refreshed, monitored, documented, narrowed, expanded, or released

A litigation hold is not just a form letter. It is a preservation system.

What is a litigation hold letter?

A litigation hold letter is a written instruction to preserve potentially relevant evidence.

It may be sent:

• Internally by a business to employees, executives, managers, IT personnel, records custodians, or contractors

• Externally by a lawyer to an opposing party, potential defendant, third-party witness, vendor, customer, former employee, or records holder

• By an insurer, employer, corporate parent, board, receiver, trustee, or litigation counsel

• After a demand letter, subpoena, threatened lawsuit, complaint, arbitration demand, investigation, or emergency injunction request

The goal is to prevent relevant evidence from being deleted, altered, destroyed, overwritten, lost, or made inaccessible.

When does the duty to preserve begin?

A business’s preservation obligations usually begin when litigation is pending or reasonably anticipated.

That may occur before a complaint is filed. A duty to preserve may arise after:

• A demand letter

• Threatened lawsuit

• Civil subpoena

• Cease-and-desist letter

• Insurance claim

• Internal complaint

• Customer dispute

• Employee dispute

• Contract termination dispute

• Fraud allegation

• Asset-transfer concern

• Regulatory inquiry

• Arbitration demand

• Emergency injunction threat

• Serious business dispute likely to lead to litigation

The exact timing depends on the facts. But waiting until formal discovery begins may be too late.

What should a litigation hold cover?

A litigation hold should identify the categories of information and evidence that must be preserved.

Depending on the dispute, that may include:

• Contracts

• Amendments

• Purchase orders

• Invoices

• Payment records

• Emails

• Text messages

• Voicemails

• Slack messages

• Microsoft Teams messages

• WhatsApp messages

• Signal messages

• CRM records

• Accounting records

• QuickBooks data

• Payroll records

• Bank records

• Wire records

• Corporate records

• Board materials

• Meeting notes

• Calendar entries

• Spreadsheets

• PDFs

• Word documents

• Drafts and versions

• Cloud files

• Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, or SharePoint records

• Customer communications

• Vendor communications

• Employee communications

• Social media posts

• Website pages

• Metadata

• Access logs

• Download logs

• Device logs

• Security footage

• Photos and videos

• Physical documents

• Product samples

• Equipment

• Real estate records

• Asset-transfer documents

• Documents stored by third-party vendors

The hold should be tailored to the dispute. Overly broad holds can be expensive and hard to manage; overly narrow holds can miss critical evidence.

What should your business do after receiving a litigation hold letter?

1. Do not ignore it

A litigation hold letter is a warning that evidence preservation may matter in an existing or expected dispute.

Even if the letter seems aggressive, overbroad, or premature, it should be reviewed promptly.

2. Identify the dispute

Determine what the dispute is about.

Ask:

• Who sent the hold?

• What claims are threatened?

• What contract, transaction, event, employee, customer, product, asset, or communication is involved?

• What date range is likely relevant?

• Who at the business knows about the dispute?

• Is litigation already filed?

• Is a subpoena or injunction request likely?

Understanding the dispute helps define what to preserve.

3. Stop automatic deletion where needed

Many businesses lose evidence through ordinary systems.

You may need to suspend or adjust:

• Email deletion policies

• Text-message deletion settings

• Chat retention rules

• Backup overwriting

• Document destruction schedules

• Device wipe policies

• Employee offboarding deletion

• Security footage overwriting

• CRM cleanup

• Accounting file archiving

• Cloud-file lifecycle settings

• Auto-delete settings in collaboration platforms

A hold that says “preserve documents” is not enough if the company’s systems continue deleting them.

4. Identify custodians

Custodians are people likely to possess relevant information.

Possible custodians include:

• Owners

• Officers

• Directors

• Members

• Managers

• Employees

• Former employees

• Sales personnel

• Customer-service personnel

• Accounting personnel

• IT personnel

• Human resources

• Project managers

• Bookkeepers

• Contractors

• Vendors

• Consultants

• Outside accountants

• Brokers

• Agents

• Administrative staff

Do not assume the key records are only in the CEO’s inbox.

5. Identify data sources

Relevant information may live in many places.

Examples include:

• Company email

• Personal email used for business

• Company phones

• Personal phones used for business

• Laptops

• Tablets

• Desktop computers

• Shared drives

• Cloud storage

• CRM platforms

• Accounting systems

• Payroll systems

• Project-management tools

• Collaboration platforms

• Messaging apps

• Backup systems

• Vendor portals

• Bank portals

• Social media accounts

• Website admin panels

• Security systems

• Physical file cabinets

The hold should reach the data sources that matter.

6. Send an internal hold notice

If the business has preservation obligations, send an internal hold notice to relevant custodians.

The notice should usually:

• Identify the dispute in a practical way

• Describe what must be preserved

• Identify relevant date ranges

• Identify systems and devices covered

• Instruct custodians not to delete, alter, overwrite, or discard materials

• Suspend ordinary destruction practices for covered materials

• Direct custodians to preserve physical and electronic records

• Tell custodians who to contact with questions

• Avoid unnecessary legal analysis

• Avoid accusations or admissions

• Preserve privilege where possible

• Require acknowledgment of receipt

• Be updated if the dispute changes

The hold notice should be clear enough for employees to follow.

7. Document preservation steps

A business should keep a record of what it did.

Track:

• When the hold was issued

• Who received it

• Who acknowledged it

• What systems were preserved

• What deletion settings were changed

• What devices were collected or imaged

• What data was exported

• What vendors were contacted

• What former employees were contacted

• What physical evidence was secured

• What follow-up reminders were sent

• What changes were made as the case evolved

• When the hold was released

Documentation can matter if preservation is later challenged.

8. Involve IT early

IT personnel may need to help preserve:

• Emails

• Chat data

• Cloud records

• Backup data

• Metadata

• Access logs

• Device data

• Deleted-item recovery

• User accounts

• System exports

• Security footage

• File histories

• Permissions

• Audit logs

Legal and IT should coordinate carefully. A well-written hold can fail if IT systems continue auto-deleting data.

9. Be careful with former employees

Former employees may still have relevant information.

Consider whether to preserve or recover:

• Company laptops

• Company phones

• Email accounts

• Cloud accounts

• Slack or Teams accounts

• CRM access

• Personal devices used for company work

• Text messages

• Exit documents

• Files downloaded before departure

• Customer communications

• External storage devices

Employee departure is a common evidence-loss point.

10. Do not “clean up” files

Do not delete embarrassing messages, rename files, edit documents, remove comments, alter metadata, consolidate folders, or “organize” records in a way that changes evidence.

Preservation means maintaining records in a defensible condition. Cleaning up can look like spoliation.

What if the litigation hold letter is overbroad?

A hold letter from another party may demand preservation of nearly everything.

Your business may still need to preserve relevant evidence, but it can evaluate the letter’s scope.

Questions include:

• Is the date range reasonable?

• Are the topics tied to a real dispute?

• Does the letter ask for irrelevant records?

• Does the request cover privileged material?

• Does it demand preservation of inaccessible backup systems?

• Does it impose disproportionate burden?

• Does it demand records outside your control?

• Does it include personal devices or third-party systems?

• Does it create privacy or confidentiality issues?

• Is a narrowing response appropriate?

Do not simply reject the letter. Preserve what reasonably must be preserved while evaluating whether the demand should be narrowed or clarified.

Should my business send a litigation hold letter to the other side?

Often, yes, if litigation is likely and the other side controls important evidence.

A preservation letter may be appropriate when the other side may have:

• Contract documents

• Emails

• Text messages

• Customer communications

• Financial records

• Asset-transfer documents

• Trade secret records

• Device logs

• Access logs

• Download logs

• Accounting records

• Security footage

• Social media posts

• Website data

• Product records

• Personnel records

• Records held by vendors

A preservation letter can reduce later disputes about whether the other side knew evidence should be preserved.

What should an external preservation letter include?

An external preservation letter may include:

• Identification of the dispute

• Categories of evidence to preserve

• Date ranges

• Relevant custodians where known

• ESI sources

• Physical evidence

• Instruction not to delete, alter, destroy, or overwrite evidence

• Request to suspend auto-deletion and retention policies

• Request to preserve metadata

• Request to preserve backup or audit data if relevant

• Notice that the recipient may have preservation obligations

• Request for confirmation

• Professional tone

It should not be unnecessarily threatening, overbroad, or inaccurate. A poorly drafted preservation letter can hurt credibility later.

Litigation holds and electronically stored information

Most business evidence today is ESI.

ESI may include:

• Emails

• Text messages

• PDFs

• Word documents

• Spreadsheets

• Databases

• Cloud files

• Shared drive files

• Metadata

• Audit logs

• App data

• CRM records

• Accounting records

• Chat messages

• Collaboration-platform records

• Phone data

• Browser history where relevant

• Website analytics

• Security system logs

• GPS or timekeeping data

• Social media data

Preserving ESI often requires technical steps. Screenshots alone may not be enough if metadata, native files, or audit histories matter.

Litigation holds and text messages

Text messages are frequently important in business disputes.

A hold should address:

• Company phones

• Personal phones used for business

• SMS

• iMessage

• WhatsApp

• Signal

• Telegram

• Other messaging apps

• Screenshots

• Attachments

• Group chats

• Deleted-message settings

• Phone backups

• Device replacements

Do not rely on employees to remember which texts mattered. Preserve first, review later.

Litigation holds and Slack, Teams, and collaboration tools

Business communications often occur outside email.

A hold may need to cover:

• Channels

• Direct messages

• Group messages

• Shared files

• Edits

• Deletions

• Threads

• Reactions where relevant

• Export permissions

• Retention settings

• Guest users

• Integrated apps

• Audit logs

Collaboration tools often have retention policies that must be checked quickly.

Litigation holds and physical evidence

Not all evidence is digital.

Physical evidence may include:

• Signed contracts

• Original notes

• Checks

• Product samples

• Equipment

• Defective items

• Tools

• Packaging

• Vehicles

• Real estate records

• Construction materials

• Security footage storage devices

• Whiteboards or diagrams

• Handwritten logs

• Paper files

• Receipts

• Shipping labels

A business should secure physical evidence and prevent ordinary disposal.

Litigation holds and confidential information

A litigation hold may involve confidential materials.

Preserve, but protect:

• Trade secrets

• Customer lists

• Pricing data

• Vendor terms

• Financial records

• Personnel records

• Medical information

• Tax records

• Bank records

• Security data

• Proprietary processes

• Source code

• Nonpublic business plans

• Board materials

Preservation does not mean immediate disclosure. Production and disclosure are separate steps that may require objections, redactions, privilege review, protective orders, or confidentiality agreements.

Litigation holds and privilege

A litigation hold should preserve attorney-client privilege and work product.

Common mistakes include:

• Including detailed legal advice in a broad employee hold email

• Forwarding counsel’s advice widely

• Mixing business discussion with legal advice

• Creating unnecessary commentary about liability

• Copying people who do not need the communication

• Failing to separate privileged communications from business records

• Producing hold communications without review

The hold itself should be written carefully. It should instruct preservation without creating avoidable privilege or waiver issues.

Practical framework: what should my business do?

1. Assess whether litigation is reasonably anticipated

Ask whether a reasonable business would expect litigation, arbitration, subpoenas, injunctions, or claims based on what has happened.

2. Identify the dispute and key issues

Define the dispute clearly enough to identify relevant records.

3. Identify custodians

List people likely to possess relevant information.

4. Identify systems

Map email, texts, cloud storage, chat tools, CRM, accounting, payroll, devices, and physical files.

5. Suspend deletion

Stop auto-delete, overwriting, device wipe, physical destruction, and retention schedules for relevant materials.

6. Issue a written hold

Send a tailored hold notice to custodians and require acknowledgment.

7. Preserve high-risk data immediately

Act fast on data that may disappear, such as security footage, chat data, device data, logs, departing-employee accounts, and short-retention systems.

8. Coordinate with IT and vendors

Make sure technical systems actually preserve the records.

9. Monitor compliance

Send reminders, track acknowledgments, and update the hold as the case changes.

10. Collect defensibly when needed

When litigation begins, collect records in a way that preserves metadata, chain of custody, and confidentiality.

11. Review before production

Preserved documents still need relevance, privilege, confidentiality, and protective-order review before disclosure.

12. Release the hold only when appropriate

Do not lift a hold until the dispute, appeal, enforcement, or related proceeding is truly over and counsel approves release.

What if employees do not follow the hold?

The business should act quickly.

Steps may include:

• Reissue the hold

• Interview the custodian

• Preserve remaining data

• Recover deleted files if possible

• Contact IT or forensic support

• Document remedial steps

• Notify counsel

• Evaluate disclosure obligations

• Consider disciplinary or compliance measures

• Update hold procedures

Courts often look at whether the business took reasonable steps. A prompt correction is better than silence.

What if evidence was already deleted?

Do not panic, and do not hide it.

The business should determine:

• What was deleted

• When it was deleted

• Who deleted it

• Whether it was automatic or manual

• Whether backups exist

• Whether the data can be restored

• Whether another source has the same information

• Whether deletion happened before or after preservation duties arose

• Whether the deletion prejudiced another party

• Whether disclosure is required

The response should be factual and documented. Covering up deletion is often worse than the deletion itself.

Common mistakes

Common mistakes include:

• Waiting until a lawsuit is filed

• Preserving only emails

• Ignoring text messages

• Ignoring Slack, Teams, or other chat systems

• Ignoring personal devices used for business

• Failing to suspend auto-delete

• Letting departing employees’ accounts be wiped

• Ignoring security footage retention limits

• Failing to involve IT

• Failing to track acknowledgments

• Using a generic hold that no one understands

• Over-preserving everything forever

• Releasing a hold too soon

• Producing documents without privilege review

• Altering documents while organizing them

• Forgetting vendors and third-party systems

• Failing to document preservation steps

A litigation hold should be practical, enforceable, and documented.

Deadlines matter

Litigation holds are deadline-sensitive because data can disappear quickly.

Important timing issues include:

• Auto-delete settings

• Backup overwriting cycles

• Security footage retention periods

• Device replacement dates

• Employee departure dates

• Cloud retention settings

• Email retention policies

• Chat retention windows

• Subpoena response deadlines

• Discovery deadlines

• Initial disclosure deadlines

• Expert deadlines

• Injunction hearing deadlines

• Trial deadlines

• Appeal deadlines

• Post-judgment enforcement deadlines

The business should preserve disappearing evidence first.

How litigation holds affect subpoenas

If your business receives a subpoena, the subpoena may trigger or expand a litigation hold.

The business should preserve responsive materials, calendar deadlines, evaluate objections, and avoid deleting records while the subpoena is pending. A subpoena may also reveal that broader litigation is likely.

If the subpoena is overbroad, the business can object or move to quash, but preservation should still be considered.

How litigation holds affect emergency injunctions

Emergency injunctions often depend on fast, reliable evidence.

A hold can preserve:

• Customer communications

• Confidential information

• Download logs

• Access logs

• Asset transfers

• Vendor communications

• Employee communications

• Screenshots

• Security footage

• Financial records

• CRM data

• Text messages

If a business needs emergency relief, preservation should begin immediately. Delay or missing records can weaken the request.

How litigation holds affect settlement

Preservation can affect settlement leverage.

A business with preserved documents may negotiate from a stronger position because it can prove what happened. A business with missing documents may face credibility problems, sanctions threats, or weaker mediation leverage.

Settlement discussions should not stop preservation. A case that “almost settled” can still become active litigation.

How litigation holds affect insurance

If a dispute may involve insurance, preservation may matter to the carrier too.

A business should consider preserving:

• Demand letters

• Complaints

• Subpoenas

• Claim notices

• Policy documents

• Broker communications

• Reservation-of-rights letters

• Defense-cost records

• Settlement communications

• Incident reports

• Internal communications about the claim

Some policies require cooperation and preservation of information. Insurance should be reviewed early.

How litigation holds affect appeals

Evidence preservation can affect appeal rights.

Appeal-sensitive issues may include:

• Whether sanctions were imposed

• Whether evidence was excluded

• Whether adverse inferences were given

• Whether missing evidence affected summary judgment

• Whether an injunction record was complete

• Whether privilege was preserved

• Whether objections were preserved

• Whether the trial court applied the correct standard

• Whether the record shows reasonable preservation steps

• Whether prejudice was shown

• Whether dismissal, default, or fee sanctions were justified

An appellate court reviews the record. A business should document preservation decisions as part of the litigation record.

Forum considerations

Florida state court

Florida civil litigation now includes modern discovery rules, ESI production issues, initial disclosure requirements, and sanctions for failure to preserve electronically stored information. Florida businesses should treat preservation as part of early case strategy, especially in document-heavy business disputes, injunction cases, and cases involving digital communications.

North Carolina state court

North Carolina civil practice includes discovery rules addressing electronically stored information and sanctions rules addressing discovery failures. North Carolina businesses should identify ESI sources, document preservation steps, and consider discovery planning early in the case.

Federal court

Federal litigation places significant emphasis on ESI preservation, proportional discovery, Rule 26 planning, initial disclosures, and Rule 37(e) consequences for failure to preserve ESI. Federal businesses should act early because discovery conferences, initial disclosures, and ESI protocols can arrive quickly.

Arbitration

Arbitration may be less formal than court, but preservation still matters. Arbitration rules, subpoenas, emergency relief, and later court enforcement can all depend on preserved evidence.

Authority and legal framework

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26 governs discovery scope, initial disclosures, discovery planning, electronically stored information, protective orders, and supplementation. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(e) addresses failure to preserve electronically stored information that should have been preserved in anticipation or conduct of litigation, where the information is lost because a party failed to take reasonable steps and cannot be restored or replaced through additional discovery.

Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.280 governs discovery scope, initial disclosures, electronically stored information, proportionality, protective orders, and supplementation. Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.380(f) addresses failure to preserve electronically stored information that should have been preserved in anticipation or conduct of litigation, where the information is lost because a party failed to take reasonable steps and cannot be restored or replaced.

North Carolina Rule of Civil Procedure 26 governs discovery, including discovery of electronically stored information, proportionality, protective orders, and cost allocation. North Carolina Rule of Civil Procedure 37 governs discovery sanctions and includes a provision addressing electronically stored information lost through routine, good-faith operation of an electronic information system.

These authorities show why a litigation hold should be issued early, tailored to the dispute, documented, monitored, and coordinated with discovery strategy.

How Biazzo Law approaches litigation holds

Biazzo Law treats litigation holds as part of litigation strategy, not as administrative paperwork.

That may include:

• Evaluating when the preservation duty was triggered

• Drafting internal litigation hold notices

• Sending preservation letters to opposing parties or third parties

• Identifying custodians and data sources

• Coordinating with IT, vendors, accountants, and forensic professionals

• Preserving emails, texts, cloud files, business records, and ESI

• Protecting privileged and confidential information

• Preparing for subpoenas, discovery, injunctions, and expert analysis

• Addressing spoliation accusations

• Seeking or opposing sanctions

• Preserving the record for trial and appeal

• Advising on Florida, North Carolina, federal court, arbitration, and appellate-sensitive disputes

Biazzo Law represents businesses, business owners, executives, professionals, organizations, individuals, and trial counsel in Florida, North Carolina, and federal litigation involving business disputes, contract claims, fraud and misrepresentation claims, emergency injunctions, discovery disputes, subpoenas, asset-transfer issues, federal litigation, complex motions, appeals, U.S. Supreme Court matters, and amicus curiae briefs.

This appellate-aware approach matters because preservation decisions can affect the entire case. Missing evidence can shape injunction hearings, discovery sanctions, summary judgment, trial proof, settlement leverage, final judgment, and appeal.

Related Biazzo Law resources

For more information, review these related Biazzo Law resources:

• Civil Litigation — parent page for civil litigation involving business disputes, contract claims, discovery disputes, subpoenas, emergency injunctions, federal litigation, complex motions, appellate preservation, and appeals.

• I Received a Civil Subpoena. Do I Need a Lawyer? — related post addressing subpoena deadlines, objections, privilege, confidentiality, ESI, motions to quash, and litigation risk.

• What If the Other Side Is Delaying to Run Out the Clock? — related post addressing deadlines, evidence loss, delay tactics, discovery disputes, injunctions, settlement leverage, and appeal consequences.

• Contact Biazzo Law — use the contact page to schedule a litigation strategy review for litigation holds, preservation letters, subpoenas, ESI, discovery disputes, injunctions, or appellate-sensitive litigation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a litigation hold letter?

A litigation hold letter is a notice directing people or a business to preserve potentially relevant documents, electronically stored information, physical evidence, and records because litigation is pending or reasonably anticipated.

Does my business need to preserve evidence before a lawsuit is filed?

Often, yes. Preservation duties may arise when litigation is reasonably anticipated, such as after a demand letter, subpoena, lawsuit threat, contract dispute, fraud allegation, injunction threat, or serious business dispute.

What documents should a litigation hold cover?

A hold may cover contracts, emails, text messages, chat messages, invoices, accounting records, customer communications, vendor communications, cloud files, CRM data, device data, metadata, logs, security footage, physical records, and other materials tied to the dispute.

Do litigation holds apply to text messages and Slack or Teams messages?

Yes, if those communications may be relevant. Business communications on phones, messaging apps, Slack, Teams, WhatsApp, or similar platforms should be evaluated for preservation.

What happens if my business deletes documents after a litigation hold?

Deletion can create spoliation and sanctions risk. Depending on the facts, a court may order curative measures, fees, evidence limits, adverse instructions, or more severe sanctions.

Should my business send a litigation hold to the other side?

Often, yes, if the other side controls important evidence and litigation is likely. A preservation letter can help show that the other side had notice of its preservation obligations.

Can we keep normal document retention policies in place?

Maybe, but policies that would delete relevant evidence should usually be suspended for covered materials. Auto-delete, backup overwriting, chat retention, device wipe, and security footage retention should be reviewed quickly.

Does Biazzo Law help with litigation holds?

Yes. Biazzo Law helps businesses and individuals evaluate preservation duties, draft litigation hold letters, send preservation notices, respond to subpoenas, protect privileged and confidential information, address spoliation disputes, and preserve trial and appeal issues in Florida, North Carolina, and federal courts.

Schedule a litigation strategy review

If your business received a litigation hold letter, expects litigation, or needs to preserve evidence before sending a demand letter or filing suit, the preservation strategy should begin immediately.

Schedule a litigation strategy review with Biazzo Law to evaluate the litigation hold, evidence preservation duties, ESI sources, custodians, subpoenas, privilege, confidentiality, sanctions risk, injunction strategy, and appeal consequences.