Custodian holds

Legal Operations prepares a hold against its parent matter and organization. The record carries a revision and moves through draft, submitted, approved, rejected and completed states. The custodian is named on the hold, along with issue time, source count, decision time and release authority when those details apply. The hold reviewer records a separate decision with its source revision under the matter. Staff match the decision and operation key to the intended hold before treating it as reviewed.

• Identify the instruction. Legal Operations links the hold to its matter and organization, then names the custodian before submission.
• Review the current revision. Hold Reviewer checks the submitted instruction and records a reason for approval, rejection or return.
• Reconcile the outcome. Matter Owner compares the decision with issue timing and any operation receipt before treating the hold as complete.

The team should agree how custodians are identified in the text field and when a revised instruction requires a fresh decision. Keep the matter link stable across revisions. A changed custodian or source count should send the record back through review rather than allowing an old approval to appear to cover new instructions.

Set a naming rule for custodians and decide which attachments support a submitted instruction. Have Legal Operations record the revision before Hold Reviewer decides. When a matter has several holds, staff compare the source revision and operation key with the intended custodian instruction. Rehearse two holds on one matter to expose any ambiguous match. Decide who records issue evidence and who checks a receipt before changing the hold to Completed.

Suppose a hold for a departing custodian is submitted, then the source count changes. Legal Operations updates the revision and sends it for review. The Hold Reviewer reads the current instructions and records Return with a reason if the supporting material is incomplete. A later approval records the source revision, which the team compares with the hold and operation key. Operations then checks the decision time and issue record before marking the work complete.

Ask the next Legal Operations preparer to identify the submitted revision, the reviewer’s reason and the operation key. If the source count changed after approval, the reviewer should decide again before the team records completion. Compare issue time with the receipt outcome; an approved decision alone does not show that an instruction reached a custodian.

• Hold review inbox — Submitted holds waiting for an independent decision.
• Custodian hold board — Holds grouped by their current decision state.

Follow the related process and review the data model.