Blog, Corporate Law, Ethics Investigations and Crisis Management
Planning and conducting the investigation
In a prior posts, we wrote about why you may need an internal investigation and who should conduct the investigation. Once you decide an investigation is necessary – what’s next? In this post, we will discuss planning and conducting the investigation. Planning the investigation The “5Ps” apply here: Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance. A plan streamlines the investigation by giving it focus. It results in a thorough investigation, completed swiftly, and thereby creating the least disruption for the institution. A good plan begins with understanding the allegation – who did what to whom? If it is a written complaint, read the complaint, then read it again. If you were to accept everything in the complaint as true, identify what witnesses you would need to interview to confirm the facts and what documents would support the allegation. Then, look at the complaint from the other perspective, are there any other witnesses you would want to interview or documents you would want to review to disprove the allegation. If electronic documents will be reviewed, contact IT or the person responsible to ensure all the documents are preserved. Find out what back-up or archived materials might be available to rebuild evidence that might otherwise have been destroyed. Do you need others on your team? Is the investigation so large or is speed so necessary to require multiple investigators? Do you need to bring in a forensic accountant or computer examiner? With those thoughts in mind, develop a written plan for conducting the investigation. Begin with the allegation and the…
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