Estimate the total cost of a legal hold including data storage, document review, custodian processing, and e-discovery platform licensing.
A legal hold (or litigation hold) requires an organization to preserve all potentially relevant documents and data when litigation is reasonably anticipated. The costs of maintaining a legal hold can be substantial, including data storage, custodian identification, document review, and e-discovery platform fees.
This calculator estimates the total cost of a legal hold based on data volume, the number of custodians, review hours, hourly review rates, and platform licensing costs. It helps legal departments and corporate counsel budget for the often-overlooked costs of data preservation.
Failing to implement a proper legal hold can result in spoliation sanctions, adverse inference instructions, or even case dismissal. Understanding the cost helps organizations weigh preservation obligations against settlement considerations.
Legal professionals, business owners, and individuals alike benefit from transparent legal hold cost calculations when evaluating obligations, settlements, or compliance requirements. Bookmark this page and return whenever circumstances change so you always have current figures at your fingertips.
Legal hold costs are often underestimated. This calculator provides a realistic estimate that helps legal departments budget accurately and make informed decisions about litigation strategy. Instant recalculation as you change inputs lets you model multiple scenarios quickly, giving you the data foundation needed for well-informed legal and financial decisions. No registration or login is required, and you can return to this page anytime to re-run calculations as laws, rates, or circumstances evolve. No registration or login is required, and you can return to this page anytime to re-run calculations as laws, rates, or circumstances evolve.
Storage Cost = Data Volume × Cost per GB × Months Review Cost = Custodians × Review Hours × Hourly Rate Total = Storage Cost + Review Cost + (Platform License × Months)
Result: $51,000.00 estimated legal hold cost
Storage: 500 GB × $0.50 × 12 = $3,000. Review: 20 × 8 × $150 = $24,000. Platform: $2,000 × 12 = $24,000. Total = $51,000.
Legal hold costs include data identification, collection, processing, storage, review, and production. Each phase has its own cost drivers and optimization opportunities. Early case assessment tools can reduce downstream costs.
TAR uses machine learning to prioritize documents for review, reducing the volume that human reviewers must examine. Studies show TAR can reduce review costs by 50–70% while maintaining or improving accuracy compared to linear review.
Organizations can reduce legal hold costs by implementing data governance policies, reducing redundant data, training employees on document management, and using in-house e-discovery tools for routine matters.
A legal hold is a directive to preserve all documents, electronic data, and records that may be relevant to pending or anticipated litigation. It overrides normal data retention and destruction policies.
A legal hold lasts until the litigation is fully resolved, including appeals. Complex cases can keep holds active for 3–5 years or more. The duration directly impacts storage and platform costs.
A custodian is a person whose data or documents are subject to the legal hold. This typically includes employees with relevant knowledge, communications, or documents related to the litigation.
Failure to preserve evidence can result in spoliation sanctions, adverse inference instructions (the court tells the jury to assume the destroyed evidence was harmful), monetary penalties, or case dismissal. Use this calculator to model different scenarios and find the best approach.
Document review is typically the most expensive component, accounting for 60–80% of total e-discovery costs. Technology-assisted review and early case assessment can dramatically reduce this expense.
In some cases, the prevailing party can recover e-discovery costs as part of a cost award. However, this varies by jurisdiction and is not guaranteed. Budget conservatively.