Electronic discovery immediately becomes an issue when an organization learns of, or anticipates pending litigation. At this point, it is necessary to implement a legal hold and suspend the destruction of any relevant electronic records until the litigation is settled. Any ESI purge, planned or otherwise, prior to settlement may result in sanctions. In order to comply, the scope, location, and form of potential evidence must be identified. It is important to notify data custodians, issue reminders to ensure that evidence is properly preserved, and prevent access by unauthorized individuals.