How To Work With Regulators During Internal Investigations
Government investigations attorneys David Chaiken, Timothy Butler and Laura Anne Kuykendall have published an article in Law360, " How To Work With Regulators During Internal Investigations." The authors explore the legal consequences of a "state action" finding, when private investigative activity can become "state action," the risks to company counsel and company, and how counsel can mitigate risks. They write, "In many internal investigations, especially those triggered by whistleblowers raising allegations that may be known only to the government, working with the government is unavoidable and even desirable. But when doing so, company counsel should attempt to minimize the risk of a state-action challenge in a follow-on criminal prosecution. Indeed, given the potentially adverse consequences, including delay, aggravation, expense and embarrassment, company counsel working with regulators during internal corporate investigations should continuously be mindful of these issues and take steps to ensure that their internal investigations are truly 'internal,' and not attributable to the government."