--- title: What is a Legal Hold? description: A legal hold is a legal action that requires a company to preserve certain information ahead of potential legal proceedings. image: https://www.mirrorweb.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/6262aab5ae2345145c56dc5b_tingey-injury-law-firm-DZpc4UY8ZtY-unsplash.jpg --- [Skip to content](https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog/what-is-a-legal-hold#main-content) [![Master Logo - ColourWhite Landscape](https://www.mirrorweb.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Master%20Logo%20-%20Colour%EF%80%A2White%20Landscape.png?width=178&height=40&name=Master%20Logo%20-%20Colour%EF%80%A2White%20Landscape.png "Master Logo - ColourWhite Landscape")](https://www.mirrorweb.com/) - [Unified Platform](https://www.mirrorweb.com/platform/) Show submenu for Unified Platform - [Mira - Supervision Agent](https://www.mirrorweb.com/mira) - [Website Archiving](https://www.mirrorweb.com/platform/website-archiving/) - [Email & Communication Archiving](https://www.mirrorweb.com/platform/email-archiving/) - [Social Media Archiving](https://www.mirrorweb.com/platform/social-media-archiving/) - [Mobile Archiving](https://www.mirrorweb.com/platform/mobile-archiving/) - Solutions Show submenu for Solutions - [By Industry](https://www.mirrorweb.com/industries/) Show submenu for By Industry - [Financial Services](https://www.mirrorweb.com/industries/financial-services/) - [Government](https://www.mirrorweb.com/industries/government/) - [Healthcare](https://www.mirrorweb.com/industries/healthcare-pharma/) - [Insurance](https://www.mirrorweb.com/industries/insurance/) - [Legal](https://www.mirrorweb.com/industries/legal/) - [Technology](https://www.mirrorweb.com/industries/technology/) - [By Use Case](https://www.mirrorweb.com/use-cases/) Show submenu for By Use Case - [Agentic Communications Supervision](https://www.mirrorweb.com/mira) - [Communication Capture](https://www.mirrorweb.com/use-cases/communication-capture/) - [Prevent Compliance Violations](https://www.mirrorweb.com/use-cases/prevent-compliance-violations) - [Audit-Ready Recordkeeping](https://www.mirrorweb.com/use-cases/audit-ready-automated-record-keeping/) - [Reduce Costs & Improve Efficiency](https://www.mirrorweb.com/use-cases/compliance-cost-efficiency/) - [Website Archiving](https://www.mirrorweb.com/use-cases/website-archiving/) - [By Channel](https://www.mirrorweb.com/channels/) Show submenu for By Channel - [Website](https://www.mirrorweb.com/use-cases/website-archiving/) - [Email](https://www.mirrorweb.com/channels/email/) - [Social Media](https://www.mirrorweb.com/channels/social-media/) - [Instant Messaging](https://www.mirrorweb.com/channels/instant-messaging/) - [Mobile](https://www.mirrorweb.com/channels/mobile/) - Why MirrorWeb Show submenu for Why MirrorWeb - [Customer Success](https://www.mirrorweb.com/case-studies) - [About Us](https://www.mirrorweb.com/why-mirrorweb/about) - [Careers](https://www.mirrorweb.com/careers/) - [Partnerships](https://www.mirrorweb.com/partnerships/) - Resources Show submenu for Resources - [Blog](https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog) - [Events](https://www.mirrorweb.com/events) - [Help Center](https://help.mirrorweb.com/en/) - [Legal Resources](https://www.mirrorweb.com/help-centre/legal/) [Request a demo](https://www.mirrorweb.com/demo) [Login](https://my.mirrorweb.com/login) # What is a Legal Hold? [![](https://www.mirrorweb.com/hubfs/Blog_Author.png) Sean Stapleton](https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog/author/sean-stapleton) [Legal](https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog/tag/legal) Published: 01 Dec 2021 ![](https://www.mirrorweb.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/6262aab5ae2345145c56dc5b_tingey-injury-law-firm-DZpc4UY8ZtY-unsplash.jpg) #### Table of Contents [Contact Us](https://www.mirrorweb.com/contact/) Share A legal hold, or litigation hold, is a legal action that involves an organization retaining records and documents for possible investigations or legal matters. This legal procedure is designed to ensure the information relevant to a specific legal case is not altered, lost, or destroyed. Once a legal matter has been resolved, the legal hold ends and the organization no longer has to secure relevant records for that particular legal instance. This legal procedure is necessary because it's unreasonable for legal teams to immediately collect relevant information from an organization and preserve it. The need to quickly seize and retain large volumes of information would require a legal team or department to employ dozens of legal and IT personnel. Furthermore, the immediate search and seizure of relevant records would be a massive, and possibly unnecessary, disruption to the affected organization. Not only would the physical actions of capturing records be disruptive, but the actual retention of information could be problematic if the legal matter ends up being resolved without further action. In essence, a legal hold is a compromise that allows a legal team to work at a reasonable pace while minimizing disruptions for the organization in question. It ensures that relevant records are preserved without placing an unreasonable burden on the organization being investigated. **The Legal Hold Process** A legal hold is generated by  [**some type of triggering event**](https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/litigation-hold). This event could be an employee sustaining an injury on the job, a breach of contract, or a party seeking compensation for damages. When the decision is made to issue a legal hold, a written notification is sent from a legal team or department to the appropriate custodians within an organization. This could be executive leadership, the human resources department, the IT department, or other company personnel. Because receiving parties may not have much legal training, the legal hold notice should be easy to understand. Many legal teams and departments use standard templates that avoid misunderstandings and steer clear of sophisticated jargon. A typical legal hold notice instructs custodians to preserve a specific set of records in such a way that they cannot be modified, corrupted, or destroyed. Records typically include emails, digital documents, paper records, and logbooks. Relevant records also may include business-related text messages, company web pages, and social media posts. Some companies routinely destroy old records and documents. A legal hold stops this routine for records related to the potential legal action. By law, the legal team or department that issued the hold must be notified by the custodian when the document has been received and read. Custodians must also inform the legal team that they have agreed to comply with the legal hold. If a confirmation is not issued, the legal team or department should follow up and potentially escalate the situation until a proper response is received. Documents could be placed under a legal hold for days, weeks, months, or years. The legal team that issued the hold typically sends occasional reminders to ensure the records are being properly secured. Sometimes, the scope of a legal hold will grow larger or smaller. If the legal team feels like a change in scope must happen, it will issue update notices that outline the new scope so that custodians can comply appropriately. Once the matter is resolved, the legal team should release the hold so that the custodians can  [**move forward with their records as they see fit**](https://www.ediscoveryllc.com/when-does-a-litigation-hold-end/). **Legal Holds are a Common Challenge** Legal holds occur quite frequently, especially within large companies. It's not unusual for a large business to have dozens, or even hundreds, of ongoing legal holds. As you can probably imagine, complying with these legal holds in a large company is more than a full-time job and it typically requires multiple people. Paralegals or others who are trained on legal discovery matters are often responsible for managing a company's legal holds. This responsibility typically does not call for in-depth legal education. An internal team responsible for managing legal holds often coordinates with the human resources and IT departments, as these department's typically hold records related to legal matters. This requires significant coordination among those involved. Personnel managing various legal holds should document every action taken for each hold. Any changes to holds should also be recorded. Strong documentation can protect a company if the legal dispute proceeds to a courtroom. Ultimately, legal holds are a protective measure for parties on both sides of potential litigation. The party being subjected to the hold simply needs to remain in compliance and keep proper documentation related to the hold. **MirrorWeb Can Be Your Legal Solutions Provider** At MirrorWeb, we understand the importance of a legal hold situation and have developed  [**our record retention solutions**](https://www.mirrorweb.com/#what) with this importance in mind. If your company is looking to upgrade or adopt a compliant archiving solution, please visit [**our homepage**](https://www.mirrorweb.com/) to schedule a consultation. ‍ ## Read On [![](https://www.mirrorweb.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/6262a9ca1fcf63694521de27_mael-balland-ydhN7dJBVRw-unsplash.jpg?width=352&name=6262a9ca1fcf63694521de27_mael-balland-ydhN7dJBVRw-unsplash.jpg)](https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog/what-is-chain-of-custody) #### [What is Chain of Custody?](https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog/what-is-chain-of-custody) When it comes to resolving a legal situation, a claimant is positioned to make a strong case if... [Read story](https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog/what-is-chain-of-custody) [![](https://www.mirrorweb.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/6262aa63b6d724ee401e039a_adrien-K12SrkaZuCg-unsplash.jpg?width=352&name=6262aa63b6d724ee401e039a_adrien-K12SrkaZuCg-unsplash.jpg)](https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog/how-to-archive-text-messages-on-android-phones) #### [How to Archive Text Messages on Android Phones](https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog/how-to-archive-text-messages-on-android-phones) Although it may have seemed informal just a few years ago, text messaging has become de rigueur as... [Read story](https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog/how-to-archive-text-messages-on-android-phones) [![](https://www.mirrorweb.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/6262aed27d583e5028b502ae_tuned-on-gray-laptop-computer.jpg?width=352&name=6262aed27d583e5028b502ae_tuned-on-gray-laptop-computer.jpg)](https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog/social-media-ediscovery-tools-help-companies-remain-compliant-and-reduce-liability) #### [Social Media eDiscovery tools help companies remain compliant and reduce liability](https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog/social-media-ediscovery-tools-help-companies-remain-compliant-and-reduce-liability) Social media is an essential part of doing business in the modern world, and as such, it is also a... [Read story](https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog/social-media-ediscovery-tools-help-companies-remain-compliant-and-reduce-liability) [![Master Logo - ColourWhite Landscape](https://www.mirrorweb.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Master%20Logo%20-%20Colour%EF%80%A2White%20Landscape.png?width=178&height=40&name=Master%20Logo%20-%20Colour%EF%80%A2White%20Landscape.png "Master Logo - ColourWhite Landscape")](https://www.mirrorweb.com/) Stay Connected. Stay Compliant. #### Quick Links - [Communication Capture](https://www.mirrorweb.com/use-cases/communication-capture/) - [Prevent Compliance Violations](https://www.mirrorweb.com/use-cases/prevent-compliance-violations) - [Audit-Ready Recordkeeping](https://www.mirrorweb.com/use-cases/audit-ready-automated-record-keeping/) - [Supervising Digital Communications](https://www.mirrorweb.com/use-cases/supervised-digital-communication/) - [Reduce Costs & Improve Efficiency](https://www.mirrorweb.com/use-cases/compliance-cost-efficiency/) #### Find Us **North America** 701 Brazos St Suite 970 Austin, Texas 78701-3232 **United Kingdom** Manchester House 18-22 Bridge Street Manchester M3 3BZ #### Speak to us If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch! [Contact Us](https://www.mirrorweb.com/contact/) © MirrorWeb 2026 • [Terms](https://www.mirrorweb.com/help-centre/legal/terms/) | [Privacy Policy](https://www.mirrorweb.com/help-centre/legal/privacy-policy/) ![673cba813eccf634bab46632_Motherboard 300 x 300 signatory badge](https://www.mirrorweb.com/hs-fs/hubfs/673cba813eccf634bab46632_Motherboard%20300%20x%20300%20signatory%20badge.jpg?width=200&height=200&name=673cba813eccf634bab46632_Motherboard%20300%20x%20300%20signatory%20badge.jpg) ![65eeeb5ba22a2ed7014d4f4d_21972-312_SOC_NonCPA](https://www.mirrorweb.com/hs-fs/hubfs/65eeeb5ba22a2ed7014d4f4d_21972-312_SOC_NonCPA.png?width=200&height=200&name=65eeeb5ba22a2ed7014d4f4d_21972-312_SOC_NonCPA.png) ![64b658f3e0cbdcbe04e83981_27001 RGB Purple-p-500](https://www.mirrorweb.com/hs-fs/hubfs/64b658f3e0cbdcbe04e83981_27001%20RGB%20Purple-p-500.png?width=200&height=200&name=64b658f3e0cbdcbe04e83981_27001%20RGB%20Purple-p-500.png) ![64b6590db2301cbb306c2e34_9001 RGB Purple-p-500](https://www.mirrorweb.com/hs-fs/hubfs/64b6590db2301cbb306c2e34_9001%20RGB%20Purple-p-500.png?width=200&height=200&name=64b6590db2301cbb306c2e34_9001%20RGB%20Purple-p-500.png) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Sean Stapleton", "url" : "https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog/author/sean-stapleton" }, "dateModified" : "2025-04-24T08:31:39.896Z", "datePublished" : "2021-12-01T06:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "What is a Legal Hold?", "image" : [ "https://www.mirrorweb.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/6262aab5ae2345145c56dc5b_tingey-injury-law-firm-DZpc4UY8ZtY-unsplash.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog/what-is-a-legal-hold", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.mirrorweb.com/hubfs/Offical%20Logos%20-%20Flat%20Colours%202024_Black%20Logo-1.png" }, "name" : "MirrorWeb, Inc." } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "https://www.mirrorweb.com/#organization", "@type" : "Organization", "areaServed" : [ { "@type" : "Country", "identifier" : "US", "name" : "United States" }, { "@type" : "Country", "identifier" : "GB", "name" : "United Kingdom" } ], "contactPoint" : { "@type" : "ContactPoint", "areaServed" : [ "US", "GB" ], "contactType" : "sales", "url" : "https://www.mirrorweb.com/demo" }, "description" : "MirrorWeb is the communications supervision platform for SEC- and FINRA-regulated financial services firms, unifying communications capture, archiving, and AI-native supervision.", "foundingDate" : "2012", "foundingLocation" : { "@type" : "Place", "name" : "Manchester, United Kingdom" }, "knowsAbout" : [ "communications supervision", "AI communications supervision", "electronic communications archiving", "email archiving", "SEC Rule 17a-4 compliance", "WORM storage", "FINRA Rule 3110 compliance", "Written Supervisory Procedures", "off-channel communications compliance", "BYOD archiving", "WhatsApp compliance", "mobile communications archiving", "social media archiving", "website archiving", "web content archiving", "FINRA Rule 2210 compliance", "SEC marketing rule compliance", "web changes tracking", "eDiscovery", "digital communications governance and archiving", "communications compliance software", "RegTech" ], "knowsLanguage" : [ "en" ], "legalName" : "MirrorWeb Inc.", "logo" : { "@id" : "https://www.mirrorweb.com/#logo", "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.mirrorweb.com/hubfs/master-logo.png" }, "name" : "MirrorWeb", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.linkedin.com/company/mirrorweb", "https://www.youtube.com/@mirrorweb", "https://www.g2.com/products/mirrorweb", "https://www.capterra.com/p/171780/Website-Social-Media-Archiving/", "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/mirrorweb" ], "slogan" : "The communications supervision platform.", "url" : "https://www.mirrorweb.com/" } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "https://www.mirrorweb.com/#website", "@type" : "WebSite", "name" : "MirrorWeb", "publisher" : { "@id" : "https://www.mirrorweb.com/#organization" }, "url" : "https://www.mirrorweb.com/" } ```