The duty to preserve attaches when litigation is reasonably anticipated. A well-drafted preservation letter removes every later argument about whether the recipient knew — and it names the systems specifically enough that a routine purge becomes indefensible.
The Steps
- 1State the anticipated litigation
Identify the matter, the parties, and the subject. The recipient must be able to tell what is relevant.
- 2Enumerate the systems by name
Email and mailbox contents including deleted items, case management system audit logs, warrant system tables, CAD and dispatch records, Zoom or conferencing telemetry, phone and text records, backups, and vendor-held data.
- 3Name the custodians
List the specific individuals whose records are at issue. A hold that does not identify custodians will not reach their mailboxes.
- 4Demand an identified hold owner
Ask the organization to name a person with authority across departments and outside vendors, and to confirm in writing that the hold has been implemented.
- 5Suspend the automatic machinery explicitly
Ask expressly for suspension of auto-deletion, retention-policy purges, backup rotation, and account deprovisioning for identified custodians.
- 6Send it in a way that proves delivery
Certified mail, fax with a transmission report, or email with a delivery receipt. Preserve the proof — the delivery record is the entire evidentiary value of the letter.
- 7Follow up in writing
Ask for written confirmation. Silence after documented delivery is itself a fact worth recording.
What the Record Shows
- The Village of Lincolnshire acknowledged a hold in force since June 6 in a one-page letter. Through July 30, no equivalent county acknowledgment appears in the indexed set — see the comparison.
- A county mailbox in this matter stopped accepting mail during the preservation period. See the transport record.