Your Company is the Subject of a Federal Criminal Investigation. Now What?

The Situation

Your Company is the subject of a federal criminal investigation.

The Challenge

Faced with a federal criminal investigation, the primary focus should be on promptly determining what happened, taking appropriate remedial actions, and avoiding indictment. Often this will entail establishing a special committee of the board of directors and hiring experienced outside counsel, which will conduct an internal investigation, report back to the special committee, and interface with prosecutors.

In-house counsel's role is to ensure the independence of both the special committee and outside counsel, and to make sure that the Company is taking appropriate steps to preserve documents and other evidence, make witnesses available, and demonstrate cooperation. If appropriate, in-house counsel also may be asked to play a role in advising the special committee as to remedial measures, including termination of tainted employees, disclosing wrongdoing to the authorities, and making proper disclosures.

Read Attorney Joshua Goldberg's suggested resolution for this challenge in the article attached at the top of the post