Given what can be at stake in internal investigations, many companies aren't comfortable cutting corners. On the other hand, you want to avoid what one lawyer calls “the Avon situation,” in reference to the company's $130 million (and still ongoing) internal investigation into potential Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations. “The cost of that investigation seems insane in relation to what appears to be the underlying conduct and the amount of money the company makes. It doesn't make any sense to me at all,” the lawyer says.

Limiting the scope of the investigation, possibly with the government's involvement, can help. According to Weil, Gotshal & Manges Partner Steven Tyrrell, if you are cooperating with the government, “educate them to the cost of the investigation and why it doesn't make sense for the company to unnecessarily spend millions and millions of dollars looking into things that aren't relevant.”

And avoiding the necessity of redoing work can save money as well. “One of the best ways to cut costs is to do things correctly right from the start,” says Rachel Skaistis, a litigation partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore.