When it comes to litigation, the delete -button is an in-house attorney's worst enemy. Thanks to the amended Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which established a duty to preserve electronically stored information, all it takes is a couple clicks of an employee's mouse to result in huge fines for a company.

That is why implementing a solid litigation hold strategy is a necessity in today's electronically enhanced corporate world. Few legal departments, however, seem to really know how to do it. The majority–66 percent–have some sort of plan in place according to a recent LexisNexis survey of corporate counsel-. But words on paper mean little when it comes to taking action.

Intel Corp.'s general counsel would probably agree. In March 2007 the company made national headlines when it revealed that its CEO, chairman and head of marketing all failed to preserve e-mails that were potentially relevant to an antitrust lawsuit. Worse, the blunder happened despite the company's multimillion-dollar discovery-management program.

The following is not a guide to policy-making–it's a guide to taking action. With this knowledge–which incorporates the expertise of leading corporate counsel, outside counsel, consultants, records-management professionals and technologists–you'll be able to effectively lock down all electronic files at a moment's notice.

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Download a sample hold notice, provided by the Sedona Conference Institute, here.