# Litigation Hold Management Workflows

## Workflow 1: Litigation Hold Issuance

```
[Triggering Event Detected]
   (Claim filed / Pre-action letter / Regulatory investigation / Internal investigation)
         │
         ▼
[Legal Counsel Defines Hold Scope]
   - Date range
   - Data subjects / custodians
   - Data categories
   - Systems in scope
         │
         ▼
[Issue Custodian Notifications]
   - Formal written hold notice to each custodian
   - 48-hour acknowledgement requirement
   - Track acknowledgements
         │
         ▼
[Technical Hold Implementation]
   ├── Email: Litigation Hold / In-Place Hold
   ├── SharePoint/OneDrive: Preservation Hold
   ├── Cloud storage: Legal Hold on objects
   ├── Databases: Disable auto-deletion for in-scope records
   ├── Backup systems: Tag for indefinite retention
   └── Deletion orchestrator: Add hold exclusion
         │
         ▼
[Register Hold]
   - Add to Litigation Hold Register
   - Set quarterly review date
   - Link to retention schedule (suspension)
         │
         ▼
[Confirm Implementation]
   - Verify holds active on all in-scope systems
   - Verify deletion suspended for in-scope data
   - Report to Legal counsel
```

## Workflow 2: Ongoing Hold Monitoring

```
[Quarterly Review Trigger]
         │
         ▼
[For Each Active Hold]
   │
   ├── [Is the matter still active?]
   │     ├── Yes ──► Continue hold
   │     └── No / Uncertain ──► Escalate to Legal for confirmation
   │
   ├── [All custodians still relevant?]
   │     ├── Yes ──► Continue
   │     └── No ──► Update hold scope; release non-relevant custodians
   │
   ├── [New custodians identified?]
   │     ├── Yes ──► Issue hold notice to new custodians
   │     └── No ──► Continue
   │
   ├── [Technical holds still active?]
   │     ├── Yes ──► Verified
   │     └── No ──► ALERT — reimpose immediately; investigate lapse
   │
   └── [Any Art. 17 requests affected by this hold?]
         ├── Yes ──► Confirm exception documented; data subject notified
         └── No ──► Continue
         │
         ▼
[Update Litigation Hold Register]
[Send Compliance Reminder to Custodians]
```

## Workflow 3: Hold Release

```
[Matter Concluded — Legal Counsel Authorizes Release]
         │
         ▼
[Issue Hold Release Notice]
   - Formal written release to all custodians
   - Confirm custodians may resume normal data management
         │
         ▼
[Remove Technical Holds]
   ├── Email: Remove litigation hold
   ├── Cloud: Remove legal holds from objects
   ├── Databases: Re-enable auto-deletion
   ├── Backup: Release tagged backup sets
   └── Deletion orchestrator: Remove hold exclusion
         │
         ▼
[Post-Release Retention Catchup]
   │
   ├── [Retention period expired during hold?]
   │     └── Yes ──► Schedule immediate deletion (within 30 days)
   │
   ├── [Art. 17 requests queued during hold?]
   │     └── Yes ──► Process queued requests immediately
   │
   └── [Retention period still active?]
         └── Yes ──► Resume normal countdown
         │
         ▼
[Update Litigation Hold Register]
   - Record: release date, authorizing counsel, matter outcome
   - Archive documentation (retain 6 years)
```