The complexities and pace of litigations and investigations often require companies to respond to competing demands quickly. Sometimes, in the heat of the battle and faced with extensive discovery demands and requests, parties fail to satisfy their obligation to preserve relevant material. In this guest article, Covington & Burling attorneys provide an overview of the duty to preserve and set forth issues to consider when accounting for this duty, particularly as it relates to backup systems, mobile devices and instant messaging. See also “Proactive Steps to Protect Your Company in Anticipation of Future Data Security Litigation” (Part One of Two)” (Nov. 25, 2015); Part Two (Dec. 9, 2015).