Litigation Hold Terminology

Subject Matter/Name:  Name assigned to the Litigation Hold and subject matter searching criteria identified by the Office of General Counsel (OGC), e.g., LH#01 – John Smith

Relevant Time Period:  The time frame that the User(s) should identify/preserve the relevant records.

Relevant Records: Relevant records may include all forms of electronic communications or documents (e.g., timecards, personnel files, voicemails, e-mails, word processing, spreadsheets, calendars, videos, or photographs and any other records generated, received, or reviewed in connection with the subject matter).

OGC Attorney:  The name of the attorney assigned to the Litigation Hold (LH).

Users Data to Hold:  List of employees (users) involved in the Litigation Hold who have been identified as possibly having relevant records. If you are aware of other employees with relevant information notify Deborah Harvey in the Office of General Counsel at dgharvey@ncsu.edu to add them to the litigation hold.

Snapshot/Ongoing Capture of Server Data:
a) Snapshot – preserve server records indicated in the relevant time period with a time stamp. The timestamp is the date the litigation hold was issued or received. 

b) Ongoing  – preserve server records indicated in the relevant time period and future versions with timestamps. The ongoing capture can be done by IT personnel weekly, or monthly.

Initiate Hold:  mm/dd/yyyy (date the LH was initiated by OGC)

Review Hold:  mm/dd/yyyy (date the LH is reviewed by OGC to determine if it can be released or continue the hold, usually quarterly)

Updated Hold:  mm/dd/yyyy (date when the LH was updated and will only appear if Deborah Harvey updates the LH to add/remove users to the litigation hold and/or to identify specific Electronic Storage Information (ESI))

Data Stewards/Custodians: Each litigation hold will copy Data Stewards/Custodians for the purpose of preserving data.
a)  Data Stewards have the primary responsibility for the accuracy, privacy, and security of the University Data under his/her responsibility. All University Data must have an identified Data Steward to be responsible for data management within his/her unit. (e.g., College Deans for college data).

b)  Data Custodians are assigned specific data management responsibilities by a Data Steward. A Data Custodian typically will control access rights to data he/she manages.  A Data Custodian implements controls to ensure the integrity, security, and privacy of the data. (e.g., College IT Directors for college data or Security & Compliance Director for financial data).