Noel Power

This Practice Note covers creating an internal investigation framework and provides practical guidance on conducting an investigation. An internal investigation is a legal process to review and identify facts relating to a specific allegation, concern or misconduct and remediate potential irregularities.

This Practice Note details common headaches for in-house lawyers concerning Legal Professional Privilege (LPP) and contains practical tips on dealing with LPP issues.

This Practice Note provides guidance on the application of legal professional privilege (LPP) to internal investigations. It is important to ensure you preserve LPP wherever possible when conducting internal investigations.

This Practice Note is intended for in-house lawyers, including lawyers working in-house in law firms. It explains what legal professional privilege (LPP) is, how LPP operates, and to whom it belongs. This Practice Note also explains how LPP can be lost or waived and summarises LPP issues in selected other jurisdictions. It covers legal advice privilege and litigation privilege, which are two distinct types of LPP. It incorporates, where appropriate, SRA guidance on LPP for in-house lawyers.

This Precedent Internal investigation report can be used to record the process and findings of an internal investigation. Written reports can be effective in demonstrating that a full and proper investigation has been carried out. However, there is a risk that such a report can ultimately become discoverable by regulators or claimants in subsequent proceedings.

This Precedent Internal investigation interview invitation letter has been written in partnership with Caroline Black and Noel Power of Dechert LLP. It can be used to invite a member of staff to attend an interview. It provides detailed warnings in relation to confidentiality and privilege and makes it clear on whose behalf any attending or interviewing lawyer is acting, sometimes known as an Upjohn Warning, from the US case of Upjohn Co. v United States.. There is a separate Precedent for an interview warning