What action should a party take to prevent the destruction of electronically stored information in legal proceedings?

A litigation hold is a critical action that a party must implement when anticipating legal proceedings to prevent the loss or destruction of electronically stored information (ESI). This process involves notifying relevant employees and stakeholders that all potentially relevant data must be preserved. The litigation hold serves to suspend any routine data destruction or deletion policies for the duration of the legal matter, ensuring that all pertinent evidence is retained and can be accessed when needed for discovery.

By placing a litigation hold, an organization ensures compliance with legal obligations and mitigates the risk of sanctions that could arise from spoliation of evidence, which is the intentional or negligent destruction of relevant information. This action is particularly crucial given the increasing reliance on electronic data in legal matters, as failure to maintain this information can significantly impact the outcome of a case.

In comparison, while a data retention policy and evidence preservation are relevant concepts, they do not specifically address the immediate action required once litigation is anticipated. A data retention policy sets guidelines for how long different types of data should be stored, but it does not independently ensure that all relevant information is retained during pending legal proceedings. An information audit involves assessing the data an organization holds but does not directly act to preserve it in a legal context. Therefore, the most effective measure in