Session 22 - Wait, there was a Lit Hold? Improving the Defensibility of Litigation Holds Through SharePoint

Issuing a litigation hold can be a taxing ordeal for an organization when considering the number of record custodians, records, and systems of record that need to be reviewed and preserved. There is “so much to discover” when preparing litigation holds. In 2021, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office (OAG) sought to centralize and improve the management of internal litigation holds through a SharePoint platform. OAG records management worked with legal and IT services to determine the criteria and capabilities of using SharePoint to automate the steps of implementing a litigation hold.

The OAG’s innovative use of SharePoint to replace manual processes with automation shows that technological solutions can reduce work as well as assure defensibility in practices.

This presentation will cover:

• Records management’s role in litigation holds and the eDiscovery process
• Requirements for the internal litigation holds, and
• How the SharePoint forms/workflows were designed to achieve desired goals.

Attendees will come out of this session understanding the importance of records management’s role in the litigation hold process, what information should be identified and documented throughout implementing a litigation hold to support practices, and how this may improve their own organizational litigation hold processes.

Target Audiences: Federal, State/Tribal, Local, Public Institutions of Higher Learning

Focus Areas: Records Management, Technology/Tools

Presenter: Nathan Owens, Records Manager, Ohio Attorney General's Office