Employment Investigations: Figuring It Out & Avoiding Liability

Originally presented on August 1, 2019

Lawyers are often called on to conduct internal company investigations of employment disputes, sometimes in anticipation of litigation. Employers hope to obtain an independent and thorough investigation of sensitive workplace matters to assess liability. For the lawyer, there are many challenges: Choosing the right investigator, asking the right questions, preserving evidence, ensuring that privacy rights are not violated, and producing a practically useful report for the employer. There are also substantial issues of preserving the attorney-client privilege. Often, the investigation can be as sensitive as the underlying matter. This program will provide you with a real-world guide to planning and conducting an employment investigation and limiting employer liability.  

• Planning an effective employment investigation & knowing your goals
• Understanding liability risk in investigation, including invasions of privacy
• Determining interviewees and format/recording of interview
• What questions to ask/information to obtain from interviewees
• Litigation holds – what you should put in place
• Preserving the attorney-client privilege
• What to include in your final report

Speaker: Emily Pidot, Paul Hastings, LLP, New York, NY

NOTE: This program was originally produced as a telephone seminar and is available on demand in streaming audio. This material qualifies for self-study credit only. Pursuant to Regulation 15.04.5, a lawyer may receive up to six hours of self-study credit in a reporting year. Self-study programs do not qualify for ethics or elimination of bias credit.