Internal investigations are undertaken by many organisations into a wide variety of situations, whether that be routine audits, business critical risks, reputationally important allegations or urgent problems.
Early-stage investigations are frequently conducted when little is known about the circumstances but they can then later be subject to detailed scrutiny by the stakeholders, the media, regulators or in litigation.
Womble Bond Dickinson's investigation team provides in-house teams with the capacity, resources and tools needed to complete the task within required timeframes and with a proportionate level of diligence.
A modular service
Our support is modular which allows as much or as little of each investigation to be outsourced. This could be as simple as asking us to collate the relevant documents for you or as extensive as commissioning us to conduct a fully managed end-to-end inquiry.
Module
Support provided
Scope
Advising on the scope, structure and conduct of an investigation so as to achieve your goals and avoid pitfalls.
Assisting with the appointment of independent investigators and forensic specialists.
Documents
Identification, collection, organisation and review of relevant documents.
People
Preparing and conducting interviews (in compliance with regulatory requirements, civil and criminal procedure and employment law).
Reporting
Preparation of reports of factual findings and presentation of findings to senior management.
Recommendations
Advising on legal, commercial and reputational risks.
Investigation areas
Financial
Sanctions/AML
Bribery
Fraud (civil and criminal)
Insolvency.
Legal compliance
Financial services
Health & safety
Environmental
Product liability
Competition
Professional misconduct.
Internal governance
Director misfeasance
Internal theft/fraud
Audit inquiries
Employee misconduct
Ethics compliance
Whistleblowers.
External stakeholders
ESG reporting
Cyber incidents
Distributor/vendor fraud
Customer complaints
Supply chain standards
Public inquiries/select committees.
Performance management
Governance breakdown
Project failures
Process reviews
Efficiency audits.
Example use cases
Privileged investigation
A whistleblower alleges that misleading information has been presented to the company's auditors.
An independent end-to-end review is required under privilege to determine the seriousness of the issue and whether there is a material legal risk.
Internal fraud
An accounting anomaly suggests that customers have been repeatedly overcharged for a number of years and that this may have been part of a long running internal fraud.
The email accounts of the relevant employees are extracted and reviewed for "smoking guns". A chronology of key events is produced for the client organisation so they may undertake their own risk assessment.
Independent investigator
A company is concerned about alleged inappropriate behaviour of a senior executive.
The sensitivity of the allegations and seniority of those involved means that the investigation cannot be handled in-house. The investigation is outsourced to WBD to gather relevant WhatsApp message and social media posts and to interview the executive. A chronology of factual findings is presented to the board.
ESG criticism
An organisation is criticised for its use of contractors with questionable ethical standards and are under pressure in the media to transparently explain what has happened.
WBD is publicly appointed as an independent investigator to produce a public report on what happened and the remedial measures taken to ensure it does not happen again.
Risk triage
A growing number of customer complaints raises concerns about service failures.
A review is commissioned of 500 customer complaint emails to triage the level of risk, with recommendations made on where further investigations are needed.
Urgent project review
An outsourcing was intended to deliver substantial cost savings but leads to increased costs and a termination of the outsourcing relationship.
Senior management wish to understand what happened and to discuss lessons learnt at next week's board meeting.
The in-house team are heavily engaged in other projects so the interviews of key staff are outsourced. A report of the factual findings is produced for the in-house team so they can draw up recommendations for improvements for their board.
Select Committee
The CEO is called to testify before a Select Committee on the sale of environmentally damaging products.
A detailed investigation is required to ensure the CEO gives accurate evidence to Parliament. The scale of the forensic exercise required is beyond the in-house team's capacity so is outsourced to WBD to establish the fact package that will be used by the CEO.
Data misuse
An employee has left to set-up their own business - there is a concern that they have collated client data to take with them.
An investigation is required to understand what data may have been taken and the risk this may cause to the business so as to determine whether to enforce the covenant.
If you are looking for support with a live investigation by a regulator or want advice on conducting investigations in special legal areas, please contact one of our legal specialists.
From routine audits to exploring business critical risks, you need to be prepared for all eventualities, especially if your goal is to save time and money in the long run.
Your team
Your investigations team
Sounds complicated? Not with us by your side. Providing in-house teams with the capacity, resources, and tools necessary to carry out investigations on time and to the highest possible standards, our modular support service will turbo-charge your ability to manage and complete an end-to-end inquiry.
Our investigation specialists will scope out your requirements, then find the most relevant experts from around the business to support your objectives. A modular approach gives you the flexibility to outsource only what you need, and you’ll be able to tap into the expertise of our large legal network here in the UK and the US.
Just like you, we understand the importance of efficiency and transparency, which is why our legal advice is always tailored to your specific requirements and anticipates potential future scrutiny from your stakeholders, the media, regulators, or in litigation.
Areas we work on include financial and legal compliance, internal governance, external stakeholders, and performance management. Internal fraud, privileged investigation (e.g. whistleblowers), independent investigator (e.g. concerns about a senior executive), ESG criticism, risk triage, Select Committee, Data misuse, and urgent project reviews, are just some of the things we help our clients handle.
Need an extra pair of hands with a live investigation or advice about investigations in special legal areas? Contact us today – you’ll be in safe hands.
In need of an investigations lawyer? Look no further.
At Womble Bond Dickinson we have an exceptional team of talented lawyers and business professionals who can offer guidance and find the solutions right for your business. We have both broad and niche expertise across all our UK and US offices.
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