What promises can law firms make about confidentiality in campus sexual harassment and assault investigations? That question arose when the news surfaced in January that a team of Debevoise & Plimpton lawyers led by partner Mary Jo White briefly disclosed the names of confidential witnesses in their long-awaited report on the University of Rochester’s handling of a sexual harassment scandal.

White, who declined to comment for this story, told a campus newspaper that the disclosure was an “error.” Since her team’s report and attachments were quickly amended to anonymize the confidential information—not before some witnesses discovered their names had been made public—that likely was the case.