In Zubulake v. UBS Warburg, heard between 2003 and 2005, Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled that once a lawsuit is likely, a company must preserve its relevant records, including email. Lawyers must ensure this “by instituting a litigation hold on key data.”
UBS had failed to preserve relevant emails stored on backup tapes, although its duty to preserve began “at least as early as August 16, 2001.” The judge instructed the jury that it could infer the lost emails would have hurt UBS.