This is practical advice for the civil practitioner whose client organization becomes involved in a grand jury investigation or other official inquiry. This advice applies to an in-house general counsel of a large corporation or an outside practitioner to smaller companies, labor unions or medical practice groups. You as counsel should be aware there is a lot of hype on the subject promoted by firms that have turned conducting internal investigations into a cottage industry. There are many types of official investigations, but as grand jury investigations are the most common, I will use those as a model for this discussion.
The circumstance usually begins with the service of a subpoena for documents or a subpoena for an officer for testimony. In 90 percent of the cases, this usually means some sort of trouble for the organization, its officers, or other organizations they deal with. Your job as counsel to the organization is to find out what the grand jury is investigating, and how your client organization is involved. At this point, hire an experienced white-collar lawyer to meet with the prosecutor. I emphasize that you should select someone who has experience in dealing with grand jury investigations. Many criminal lawyers have only passing knowledge of grand jury procedure, and you need someone who is regularly involved in this practice. There is a difference in federal and state grand jury practice, so make that selection accordingly. An experienced white-collar attorney will know what questions to ask the prosecutor to learn where the investigation is going and where your client organization fits in. Even if the prosecutor is not forthcoming, the attorney can determine sufficient information from the prosecutor’s nonresponses to provide guidance. It has been my experience that prosecutors will provide more information to an experienced attorney, much like a skilled tennis player avoids playing with a duffer.
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