When your company or Board of Directors is made aware of potential misconduct — or when internal review becomes prudent — our veteran attorneys can guide you through an investigation with minimal distraction to your business.
Corporate investigations have many goals. Our attorneys help businesses get to the bottom of what actually happened versus what has been alleged, consider possible self-disclosure requirements, determine potential exposure, avoid sanctions, prepare cogent reports, and negotiate swift and effective resolutions to matters related to the investigations, including government inquiries, whistleblower complaints and putative class-actions.
Our size allows us to avoid conflicts that often prevent larger firms from conducting effective investigations. But like those firms, our team consists of seasoned and veteran attorneys: former government lawyers, and federal prosecutors, and attorneys with specific experience in corporate investigations and internal compliance matters.
more
Our approach includes:
- Determining if an investigation is necessary and/or advisable (and, if so, the appropriate scale)
- Getting the information we need to protect your interests and comply with the law without upending your business or creating new exposure to liability
- When appropriate, seeking guidance from enforcement agencies to ensure compliance
- Understanding that legal knowledge isn’t all that matters — we also bring strong industry knowledge to the table, because context is critical
- Working independently so that our services are not a distraction to your business
- Preserving privileges
- Maintaining an open line of communication so that your questions get answered and your concerns get addressed
Handled poorly, an investigation can be extremely expensive, disruptive, and lead to continuing problems. We reduce costs by offering the same quality and bench depth as larger law firms at much lower rates. We avoid disruption by minimizing interference. And, we avoid ongoing problems by conducting the investigation properly and communicating the results clearly.
While most of our work is on behalf of corporations, banks, hospitals, audit or special litigation committees, or Boards of Directors, we also represent individual officers, directors, and employees who find themselves in need of experienced legal representation during a corporate investigation.
Experience includes:
- Highly regulated industries (e.g. banking, healthcare, securities, utilities, etc.)
- Regulatory mandates and reporting requirements
- Investigating a wide variety of whistleblower complaints
- Sarbanes Oxley
- False Claims Act
- Section 10A of the Securities Exchange Act
- SEC, DOJ, and all other major enforcement agencies
- Defense of criminal prosecutions & allegations of improper business practices
- Investigation of allegations of fraud, waste & abuse
- Investigation of allegations of sexual harassment or misconduct by senior corporate officials
- Defense of class actions & other lawsuits stemming from subject allegations
- Representation of Audit and Special Litigation Committees
- Corporate governance investigations
- Defense of shareholder derivative complaints
- Self-disclosure and restated financial reports
