Being Ready for Government Investigations in a Time of Financial Crisis

In this heightened enforcement environment, it is more important than ever that corporate general counsel be ready and able to navigate a minefield of complex issues as soon as they become aware that their company is the focus of a government investigation. Upon learning of a subpoena for corporate records, counsel must quickly assemble the correct team, analyze the subpoena, and determine who may have responsive documents. Given the stress of this process, companies should strive to have proper controls in place well before becoming the target of an investigation. Regardless, counsel must be extremely organized from the beginning and must work effectively with both the business units and the IT department to establish an infrastructure which assures that everyone is working from the same playbook. At best, early mistakes will cause later headaches; at worst, they can be devastating.