Don’t Be Left Holding the Bag: Targeted Strategies for Reasonably and Defensibly Scoping Legal Holds in the Age of Data Minimization

Legal holds are a cornerstone of defensible eDiscovery—but overly broad or poorly scoped holds can lead to unnecessary risk, costs, data overload, and even sanctions. With courts expecting organizations to take “reasonable steps” under Rule 37(e) and the data privacy and security landscape growing more complex by the day, it’s time to rethink your approach to legal hold scoping.

This session offers practical, real-world strategies for information governance and eDiscovery professionals to:

·         Define and document defensible scope criteria based on matter-specific facts

·         Collaborate effectively with IT and business units to identify and preserve only what’s necessary

·         Leverage automation and analytics to streamline hold issuance and tracking

·         Embrace data minimization mandates and avoid common pitfalls that lead to over-preservation or spoliation risks

Whether you're refining your legal hold process or building one from the ground up, this session will equip you with actionable insights to ensure your holds are targeted, reasonable, and defensible.

About the Speaker: 

Martin T. Tully, a Partner at Redgrave LLP, has extensive experience handling complex Information Law issues, including eDiscovery, information governance, and data privacy and cybersecurity matters.  With over three decades of experience, he has represented companies and individuals in high-stakes litigation, serving as lead counsel in federal and state court jury and bench trials and arbitrations.

Martin’s litigation experience spans product liability, toxic tort class actions, data breach class actions, wage-fixing antitrust cases, and qui tam actions.  At Redgrave, he advises clients on litigation and investigation needs, developing and implementing effective discovery approaches and managing all aspects of pre-trial litigation, including discovery motions, dispositive motions, expert preparation, and depositions.  He leverages his knowledge of evolving technologies, including collaboration tools and artificial intelligence (AI), to deliver efficient and practical results.

He also counsels clients on information governance programs and best practices, including defensible disposition, data minimization, and retention strategies to reduce cost and risk.  Martin regularly advises on data privacy and cybersecurity compliance, data breach investigations, and policy development under laws such as the GDPR, CCPA, and NYDFS Cybersecurity Regulation.  He assists with vulnerability assessments, data classification policies, and the drafting of data processing and transfer agreements.

A thought leader in Information Law, Martin has written and presented extensively on eDiscovery, information governance, data privacy, and cybersecurity.  He co-authored “Electronic Discovery in Civil Litigation” in the ABA Guide for In-House Counsel and contributed to The Sedona Principles, Third Edition.  Chambers USA consistently recognizes him as a top lawyer in E-Discovery & Information Governance.