The voluntary cooperation of current and former employees of the company is critically important to the success of an internal investigation. In an ideal world, all relevant current and former employees would cooperate fully with counsel conducting an internal investigation, submitting to interviews and providing all necessary documents. In the real world, however, counsel frequently encounter potential witnesses who are reluctant to cooperate. This reluctance may arise when the witness’ conduct or the conduct of his or her close friends or associates is the focus of the investigation, and/or if the witness may face civil or criminal liability.
This article first discusses the kinds of cooperation and assistance that outside counsel may want to seek from current and former employees during an internal investigation. It focuses next on corporate cooperation agreements in particular as a means by which company counsel can encourage a greater degree of cooperation and assistance from key employees. It describes potential terms to include in such an agreement and reasons to execute such an agreement. Finally, it discusses the related issue of encouraging cooperation and assistance in an investigation by former employees.
Cooperation Required
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