5 Advanced Legal Hold Tips

At Exterro, we spend a great deal of time discussing the basics of e-discovery—including legal holds—through this blog and other educational resources. In fact, one of our most popular resources is the Basics of E-Discovery Guide.

However, many organizations have progressed beyond the fundamentals. When it comes to legal holds, the “basic” stage often includes challenges such as:

• Time-consuming manual processes (e.g., drafting notices, tracking compliance in spreadsheets)
• Low custodian adoption rates
• Limited visibility for legal teams into hold status and compliance
• Reactive workflows triggered only after litigation begins

It’s important to recognize that this stage is a normal part of the maturity curve for legal departments. Every organization goes through it—ideally without learning the hard way through legal risk.

If you’ve already mastered the basics, here are five advanced legal hold best practices to elevate your process:

1. Actively Track Custodians on Legal Hold

Today’s workforce is constantly changing—employees are promoted, transferred, or leave the organization, and companies undergo mergers, acquisitions, and restructuring.

Because of this, legal hold custodian lists are rarely static. You should:

• Continuously update custodian status
• Track role or employment changes
• Integrate with HR systems where possible

This ensures no relevant data is lost due to oversight.

2. Release Legal Holds on a Timely Basis

Some organizations hesitate to release legal holds out of caution. However, keeping holds in place indefinitely can increase both:

• Costs (due to unnecessary data retention)
• Risk (from over-preservation and data sprawl)

When a matter concludes—such as through settlement—it’s critical to release associated holds promptly. Integrating legal hold systems with case management tools can help automate this process and reduce risk.

3. Preserve Data In Place Instead of Collecting It

Historically, organizations often collected data simply to preserve it. Today, modern legal hold technology allows you to:

• Preserve data where it resides
• Prevent deletion or alteration
• Maintain defensibility without duplication

This approach significantly reduces storage costs while improving efficiency.

4. Use Questionnaires to Identify Keywords and Custodians

Custodians are more than just compliance participants—they are valuable sources of insight.

Engaging them through structured questionnaires or interviews can help you:

• Identify effective search terms
• Understand context around the matter
• Discover additional custodians with relevant data

This improves both the accuracy and efficiency of your discovery efforts.

5. Consolidate Legal Hold Notices and Reminders

In many organizations, certain individuals are repeatedly placed on legal hold due to their roles.

Instead of sending multiple separate notices:

• Consolidate related holds into a single communication
• Provide clear timelines and expectations
• Consider proactive holds for frequently involved custodians

This reduces confusion, improves compliance, and minimizes the risk of missed obligations.

Final Thoughts

These practices go beyond the basics and represent a more mature, strategic approach to legal hold management. While they provide a strong foundation, building a truly effective program requires continuous improvement, the right technology, and alignment with broader information governance strategies.