Creating cases

Last published : Apr 17, 2026
The eDiscovery Administrators can create cases and select which custodians to associate with the case. Once a case is created, all items (emails, collaboration messages, and files) for the case can be placed on legal hold to ensure that the items are retained.
To create a case
  1. On the eDiscoverytab, clickCases.
  2. Click Add Case.
The Add New Case dialog box appears.
  1. Under Case Status , specify the following details:
    Case Status Select the Active option.
    Legal Hold By default, this option is set to OFF.
    Switch this field to ON or OFF to toggle the options whether to apply a case-level legal hold to case items.
    Number of custodians Displays number of custodians associated with the case.
    Number of Items Displays the total count of items associated with the custodians selected for the case.
    Note: Items collected during the investigation may include items associated with custodians who are not part of the case. Thus, if not all custodians associated with the case are selected, the item count may differ.
    Expiration Date Displays case expiration date.
    Number of Items on Legal Hold Displays number of items in a case that are on legal hold.
  2. Under Case Details , specify the following details:
    Apply Legal Hold Click Yes to toggle the option between Yes and No. The Yes option applies a case-level legal hold to items, and is the default value.
    Note: This option keeps all items for the case on legal hold until the administrator removes the legal hold.
    Name Enter a unique name for the case.
    Description Optionally enter a description for the case.
    Expiration date Select Never Expires , or enter an expiration date for the case.
    After the expiration date a case's status changes to inactive. An inactive case becomes read-only for reviewers, but all its associated data and any hold remains intact. The eDiscovery Administrator can revert an inactive case back to active status.
    Filing date Specify the case filing date.
    Case Type Specify the type of case.
    Department Provide the department details.
    Matter Number Provide the matter number.
    Court/Docket Provide the court and docket number.
    Additional Staff Members Provide the additional staff member names involved in the case.
    Case Notes Provide a note for a case, if required.
  3. Under Custodians for Case , do one of the following:
    • Select All Custodians to include all the archive accounts as accounts that may be searched for this case.
      Note: If underCase Status, theLegal Holdoption is set toON, and underCustodians for Case, you select theAll Custodiansoption, the application displays the following message:
This alert message recommends you to select specific custodians instead of all custodians to avoid performance issues. However, if you are sure about selecting the All Custodiansoption, clickYes. Else, clickNoand select theSelect Custodians option.
When you select the All Custodiansoption, theAdd Custodians option remains disabled.
  • Select Select Custodiansto choose the archive accounts that you want to include for search. TheAdd Custodiansoption gets enabled. ClickAdd Custodiansand select the required custodians, then clickSave. TheAdd/Remove Custodians dialog box appears.
    • Expand the Selected Custodiansto view your selection. To remove the selected custodian, click theDeleteicon beside it and then clickUpdate.
    • Expand the Manage Custodiansto search and select the available custodians across the pages and clickUpdate.
  1. Under Reviewers for Case, clickAdd Reviewersto choose the reviewers for this case, and then clickSave.
  2. Under Customizations , select the review statuses that need be available to the reviewers when they review each message.
Under Set Review Status to , do any of the following:
  • Select Defaultand clickView to use the default list of review statuses in their default order.
  • Select Customand clickChoose Review Status Tags to choose which review statuses are to be used with this case.
  1. Under Redaction Reasons , select the redaction reasons that need to be available to the reviewers when they review each message.
Under Set Redaction Reasons to , do any of the following:
  • Select Defaultand clickView to preview the by default selected redaction reasons.
  • Select Customand clickChoose Redaction Reasons Statusto choose the redaction reasons to be used with this case. Then, clickView to preview the selected redaction reasons.
  1. Under Case Tags , add parent tags and their child tags.
Before you add parent tags and their child tags, See Adding parent tags and their child tags.
By default, it is set to None.
Select Custom>Customize Case Tags to add a case-specific tags.
Click New Case Tag to create a new parent tag. Provide a unique tag name and comments for this parent tag.
If required, add child tags, and click Done.
Note: Under the parent tag, you can add a maximum of 10 child tags up to three levels in the hierarchy. Adding tags with same names under different parent is permitted. However, you cannot save a new tag with a duplicate name in the same window; you must save other identical tags individually first. TheNew Case Tagfunctionality lets you create multiple tags simultaneously. While applying tags to the searched items, you can select multiple tags.
  1. Click Save Case to create the case with your selected options.
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