Document Preservation Demand Letter
(NY)

Summary

This document preservation letter is a standard form that attorneys can use to give an opposing party notice that they must preserve documents relevant to an anticipated or pending New York state court litigation. This template contains practical guidance, drafting notes, and alternate and optional clauses. The purpose of a document preservation letter is to ensure the retention of relevant documents for future discovery. Once a company anticipates litigation, it must immediately suspend its routine document retention/destruction protocols and put a hold in place to ensure the preservation of relevant documents. See VOOM HD Holdings LLC v. EchoStar Satellite L.L.C., 939 N.Y.S.2d 321 (1st Dep't 2012). You can send this letter in a pending litigation or in situations where you anticipate litigation to ensure your adversary preserves relevant documents or other evidence, including electronically stored information (ESI), that may be lost or destroyed before formal discovery can occur. For your letter to be effective, you must clearly specify the items or types of items the recipient must preserve. You may send the letter to the actual or potential adverse party or a third party in possession of the potentially relevant evidence. If you know the recipient is represented by counsel, send the letter to the recipient's attorney as well as the recipient. You should issue it to the other party or the other party's counsel at the earliest possible time. For a full listing of key content covering fundamental civil litigation tasks throughout a New York court litigation lifecycle, see Civil Litigation Fundamentals Resource Kit (NY). For information on preserving a corporate client's documents and information, see Litigation Holds (NY). For an annotated litigation hold notice for counsel to send to employees of a corporate client, see Litigation Hold Notice (NY). For a document retention checklist, see Document Retention Policy Checklist (NY).