Internal investigation solicitors
Get expert support from an experienced team of internal investigation solicitors
When your organisation faces suspicion of wrongdoing, it is vital to take swift and decisive action. The benefits of conducting an internal investigation are numerous, and include understanding the issues in greater detail, insulating management and the board from stakeholder criticism and loss of confidence, and giving the best possible chance of reducing regulatory risk exposure further. If the investigation is conducted appropriately, it may also attract legal professional privilege, which shields an investigation from onward disclosure.
Our team of expert internal investigation solicitors is dedicated to helping businesses navigate complex regulatory and criminal risks with confidence.
Schedule a callThe triggers for an internal investigation
An internal investigation is usually (but not always) triggered following a concern raised within an organisation. This can include risks or concerns relating to:
- Health and safety regulatory, including a fatality, RIDDOR reportable incidents, near-misses, external regulatory investigation and enforcement (including notice of contravention, prohibition or improvement notices);
- Transport regulatory, including bridge strike events, fleet maintenance, roadside stops, DVSA intervention including desk based assessments, maintenance investigations and intervention by the Office of the Traffic Commissioner.
- Environmental regulatory, including environmental incidents, near-misses, external regulatory investigation and enforcement;
- Financial crime, including fraud, bribery, theft, tax evasion, money laundering within the organisation or within the supply chain.
- Employee misconduct, including violence, sexual harassment, discrimination and bullying.
- Competition/antitrust, including abuse of dominance, anti-competitive cartel behaviour, or external regulatory intervention.
- Whistleblowing concerns raised by employees, or others within an organisation.
Why choose our internal investigation solicitors?
Unrivalled experience
The Weightmans Regulatory Team have extensive experience of conducting internal investigations, often in the context of sensitive regulatory concerns that have been identified by an organisation.
Led by Elliott Kenton, the team has conducted major internal investigations for leading organisations across transport and logistics, manufacturing, financial services, energy and utilities , built environment and owner managed businesses.
Comprehensive service
We handle all aspects of legally privileged internal investigations, from financial crime (fraud, bribery, money laundering, tax evasion) to health and safety, environmental, and competition issues. Our approach is industry-agnostic, supporting clients across all sectors.
Investigatory lifecycle support
We offer support for organisations from the discovery of wrongdoing with 24-hour incident response support to the completion of an internal investigation, and assistance with the implementation of remedial steps if necessary.
As a full-service law firm, we can support organisations not just with their internal investigation, but with any criminal, regulatory, civil or employment issues that arise. We can advise, and work with leading reputation management firms who can assist organisations at times of crisis.
International reach
Internal investigations often cross borders. Our team is equipped to manage investigations with an international dimension, supporting your business wherever it operates, through international best friend relationships with leading international firms that also specialise in internal investigations.
Schedule a callOur approach
Investigation Mobilisation
We are able to mobilise a core investigatory team quickly to assist an organisation at a time of crisis. We can advise on the scope of the investigation quickly and seamlessly, and engage with other members of core teams and third parties to support the investigation.
Independence and Privilege
Many organisations elect for Weightmans to conduct their internal investigations as we can provide unravelled and independent expertise. The involvement of external lawyers may enable the investigation to be undertaken under legal professional privilege which can protect the investigation and the materials produced as part of the investigation from disclosure to third parties.
Commercially Pragmatic
We understand that when a crisis begins to dissipate, organisations want to ensure that business is disrupted to a minimum. We work with and structure internal investigations in such a way that we conduct investigations discreetly, advise organisations pragmatically throughout the investigation, and produce clear findings and recommendations to instigate positive change within an organisation, whilst allowing an organisation to return to business as usual.
Clients often turn to us to review their operations after a period of time has elapsed to consider whether improvements have been properly and sustainably implemented.
Managing relationships with law enforcement/regulatory agencies
For some internal investigations, a parallel law enforcement/regulatory agency investigation will be taking place simultaneously. We have expertise in managing the relationship with the appropriate authorities given our wide-ranging expertise, with the primary objective of protecting an organisation’s best interests.
Our internal investigation solicitors
What is an internal investigation?
An internal investigation is an investigation conducted by an organisation, typically after wrongdoing is discovered within that organisation. That investigation is internal in that the organisation is managing, conducting or otherwise instructing a third party to undertake that investigation on their behalf. A parallel external investigation may be taking place, by law enforcement or another investigative agency involving the same wrongdoing.
Why conduct an internal investigation?
There are numerous benefits, which include:
- An opportunity for an organisation to fully appraise themselves as to what has gone wrong and to understand their regulatory risk profile.
- Can insulate management and the Board (or equivalent) from criticism from internal and external stakeholders (employees, shareholders, customers or key suppliers).
- If structured correctly, can benefit from legal professional privilege to protect an organisation from disclosing key materials to third parties.
- Can promote positive changes throughout the organisation, which may include changes to systems, policies, procedures and even culture.
- Can eliminate or mitigate against future regulatory risk.
What triggers an internal investigation?
Any regulatory risk or other concern / suspicion of wrongdoing within an organisation. This may include very obvious issues (fraud, theft, workplace fatality), or more covert (whistleblowing report, a near-miss incident, a customer complaint, or an event which may present a significant risk to the organisation’s reputation).
An internal investigation may also be triggered in an organisation where they have been the victim of crime, such as a fraud. An internal investigation is often undertaken with a view of considering civil recovery, onward reporting to law enforcement or a private prosecution.
Who should conduct an internal investigation?
We would recommend that internal investigations are conducted by experienced investigators, with close supervision and control. Often organisations would like an independent investigation to be conducted by a law firm or equivalent for impartiality reasons and for the investigation to attract legal professional privilege (LPP), which may protect the documents created by an internal investigation being disclosed to third parties. Weightmans is ideally suited to assist organisations conduct their internal investigations, due to our deeply engrained expertise in a wide number of regulatory risks and our experience of conducting legally privileged complex internal investigations to buy organisations critical time in understanding the issues before third parties do.
What happens during an investigation?
An internal investigation often begins shortly after the investigation trigger such as the discovery of wrongdoing. Often an organisation will seek independent legal advice at this stage. The investigation needs to be suitably scoped, and key teams identified who will work as part of the internal investigation team. Governance arrangements need to be implemented as part of the scoping exercise. This should be codified into a plan or terms of reference. Once an investigation is scoped, the investigation can commence which will usually involve collating and reviewing documentary evidence, undertaking interviews with investigation subjects, and producing an investigation report.
How long does an internal investigation take?
The length of time to complete an internal investigation varies considerably. In our experience, very simple investigations can take a number of weeks, whereas complex multi-faceted investigations can take several months to complete.
What happens after an internal investigation?
The final stage of an internal investigation is the production of an investigative report/advice. This may include a number of recommendations to prevent or mitigate against the risk occurring in the future. Weightmans works with organisations, not only throughout the internal investigation lifecycle, but assisting the organisation with the adoption of recommendations.
