eDiscovery and legal hold
When a lawsuit, audit or investigation begins, the company must keep relevant records and be able to find them. Legal hold stops deletion of the named people's mail, chat and files. eDiscovery then searches, reviews and exports the results in a form counsel can use.
What we do
- Case setup with counsel
- Hold notices and tracking
- Search and export runs
- Role-based access for reviewers
- Retention policy review
- Audit trail reports
- Hold release process
Our team works with Microsoft Purview eDiscovery in Microsoft 365: creating cases, placing mailboxes and OneDrive sites on hold, running searches and exporting results. We set this up with the customer's counsel so that holds, permissions and audit logs match their written process.
This group links to our Cybersecurity and Managed IT services and to the email archiving group. We do not give legal advice, and counsel decides what must be held. These are tools our team has experience with, not partnerships.
Leading platforms we work with
- Microsoft Purview eDiscovery
- Relativity
- Exterro
Platforms and practices
- Case creation and permissions
- Legal hold on mailboxes and OneDrive
- Teams chat and channel search
- Search queries and keyword lists
- Export of results
- Retention policy alignment
- Audit log of case actions
- Release of holds at case end
References
Sources last checked .
Product names are trademarks of their owners and are listed to describe our experience; they do not imply endorsement or partnership.
How we use eDiscovery and legal hold for clients
Cybersecurity
We find out whether everything you run is safe from attackers, then we fix it.
Learn moreManaged IT Services
We run your IT day to day so it stays secure: help desk, devices, Microsoft 365, Exchange, Active Directory, backups, networks and monitoring.
Learn moreEmail Security, Archiving & Continuity
Filter threats out of mail, keep every message in an immutable archive you can search, and keep email working when the mail platform goes down.
Learn moreWhere this matters most
Frequently asked questions
Direct answers to the questions we hear most. Something else on your mind?
Send us a messageWhat is a legal hold, and does it stop people from deleting mail?
A legal hold preserves the named people's mail, chat and files so that they cannot be permanently deleted while the hold is active, even if the user deletes them or a retention policy would remove them. It applies to the content in the systems that are placed on hold. Counsel decides who and what must be held, and the hold stays until counsel releases it.
Who in the company can search other people's mail?
Only people given a specific eDiscovery role. Access should be limited to counsel and a small number of reviewers, and every case action should be written to the audit log. We set up the roles with the customer's counsel so that permissions match the written process.
Does Microsoft Purview cover personal phones, text messages or other chat apps?
Purview eDiscovery covers Microsoft 365 content such as Exchange mailboxes, OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams. It does not cover messages that live elsewhere, such as texts or other chat apps on personal phones. If those could matter in a case, ask counsel early, since a different preservation method may be needed.
Is this a replacement for a law firm or a review platform?
No. We do not give legal advice, and counsel decides what must be preserved and produced. Purview handles holds, search and export inside Microsoft 365. Large reviews often need a dedicated review platform, and counsel chooses it. We handle the setup, permissions and audit trail.