Method and system for allowing multiple users to access and unlock shared electronic documents in a computer system

A system for allowing multiple users to access and unlock shared electronic documents in a computer system. A group of users are defined as potential "lock-breaker" users for a document, such that they are automatically contacted in the event that a user wishes to unlock the document after it has been locked by another user. The lock-breaker users defined for a document are given access rights to the document that allow them to break a current lock on the document, so that it can be opened for editing, and accordingly re-locked. The lock-breaker users for a document may be organized in a hierarchy, such as a hierarchy matching the relationships of employees of an organization. The lock-breaker hierarchy may define the order in which the lock-breaker users are automatically contacted when a user wishes to access a locked document (e.g. an LDAP directory tree or social network).