Does a litigation hold override my company's retention schedule?

The short answer: yes

A litigation hold (also called a legal hold) overrides your organization’s normal retention schedule for the records it covers. When a hold is in place, the routine clock that would otherwise trigger destruction is paused. You may not dispose of affected records on their scheduled disposition date, even if the schedule says their retention period has expired.

This is not a quirk of any single policy. It reflects a broader legal duty to preserve evidence. Once litigation is reasonably anticipated or has begun, organizations are generally expected to suspend ordinary disposition of potentially relevant information.

Why the hold wins

A retention schedule is your organization’s routine, good-faith plan for how long records are kept and when they are destroyed. Following it consistently is good governance.

But a litigation hold responds to a specific, foreseeable legal need. Destroying records that you knew or should have known were relevant to a dispute can expose the organization to spoliation claims and sanctions. The preservation obligation therefore takes precedence over the routine schedule until the hold is lifted.

How it works in practice

• Scope matters. A hold applies only to records reasonably relevant to the matter, not your entire repository. Identify custodians, data sources, and date ranges carefully.
• Suspend, don’t delete. Pause scheduled disposition for in-scope records and document that you did so. Keep automated deletion routines from sweeping them up.
• Notify custodians. Tell the people who hold relevant records, in writing, what to preserve and what not to delete.
• Track the hold. Maintain a record of when the hold was issued, what it covers, and who acknowledged it.

When the hold ends

A hold should be released formally once the matter and any appeal or audit period concludes. Only then do the affected records return to your normal schedule. If their retention period has already passed, you may then dispose of them through your standard process, with proper documentation.

Key takeaway

Think of the retention schedule as your default and the litigation hold as a temporary override. The schedule resumes only after the hold is lifted. Building a clear, documented hold process into your program is one of the most important defensive controls a records function can have.

For related guidance, see the retention and disposition topic hub.