Corporations with U.S. and overseas operations run the risk that an accident or other alleged wrongdoing abroad will land in both foreign and U.S. courts. Sometimes it is right after the event occurs, and other times, litigation begins in the foreign courts and comes to the U.S. months or years later.
Companies facing incidents that might attract such international attention must assess whether U.S. litigation is reasonably anticipated, thus triggering the need for a litigation hold. Once a U.S. duty to preserve exists, a litigant must carefully think through document preservation strategies and find a balance between preserving what is required to satisfy U.S. courts, while also complying with the preservation and data privacy laws that govern information in a foreign forum.
