Subpoena and Litigation Hold Response Procedure
1. Purpose
This procedure governs JIL Sovereign Technologies, Inc.'s receipt of, response to, and customer notification regarding subpoenas, court orders, search warrants, civil investigative demands, requests under the Stored Communications Act (18 U.S.C. ยง 2701 et seq.), national security letters, and other compulsory legal process or governmental requests for records held by the Company (each, a "Request"). The procedure is designed to balance the Company's lawful obligations with the Company's contractual commitments to its customers and the privacy interests of Individuals whose information may be implicated.
2. Receipt and Logging
The Company will accept service via the registered agent and via the Company's legal@jilsovereign.com mailbox. Within twenty-four (24) hours of receipt:
- the Request is logged in the Company's legal-request register with date, source, scope, and deadline;
- a docket number is assigned and used in all subsequent correspondence;
- the General Counsel (or designee) is notified.
3. Triage
The General Counsel reviews the Request to determine:
- jurisdiction and authority of the requesting body;
- scope of the records sought, including whether the records are likely to contain Customer-controlled Personal Information or Protected Health Information;
- whether the Request is overbroad, unduly burdensome, or fails to comply with procedural requirements;
- whether any privilege, statutory protection, or contractual restriction applies; and
- response deadline and any meet-and-confer obligations.
4. Customer Notice
To the extent permitted by law and the terms of the Request:
- If the records sought are Customer-controlled Personal Information or Protected Health Information processed by the Company on behalf of a Customer (Mode A or Mode B), the Company will provide written notice to the affected Customer within five (5) business days of receipt and at least ten (10) business days before any production, so that the Customer may seek a protective order or otherwise contest disclosure.
- If the Request is accompanied by a non-disclosure order, the Company will not provide notice for the period of the order, will reasonably challenge the duration of the non-disclosure obligation where appropriate, and will provide notice promptly upon expiration.
- If the records sought concern only the Company's own business records (not Customer-controlled), customer notice is not required and is given in the Company's discretion.
5. Litigation Hold
Upon receipt of any Request that may give rise to a duty to preserve, the General Counsel issues a written litigation hold to all custodians (technical and personnel) reasonably likely to possess responsive material. The hold:
- identifies the matter and the categories of records to preserve;
- suspends any otherwise-applicable retention or deletion rules with respect to the identified categories;
- requires acknowledgment by each recipient;
- is reissued at intervals not exceeding twelve (12) months until released;
- is released only by the General Counsel after confirming the matter has concluded.
6. Production
Production is limited to records actually responsive to a properly scoped Request and within the Company's possession, custody, or control. Production is made:
- in the format reasonably specified by the requesting body, or in PDF where no format is specified;
- under reasonable confidentiality safeguards, including the redaction of unnecessarily disclosed Personal Information;
- accompanied where appropriate by a records-custodian declaration in the form at /docs/legal/JIL_FRE_902_Self_Authentication_Declaration_Template.html;
- logged in the legal-request register with the production date, the produced material's identifier, and the recipient.
7. Cost Recovery
For Requests issued by parties other than a Customer, the Company may seek reasonable cost recovery for the time and resources required to respond, consistent with applicable rules of civil procedure.
8. Reporting and Audit
The legal-request register is reviewed quarterly by the General Counsel and made available to assessors under non-disclosure agreement. The Company publishes an annual transparency summary describing the categories and aggregate counts of Requests received during the prior year.