One of the highest items of agenda items on a counsel’s list of things to do initially is to establish and maintain credibility with the government. The government must be shown by the investigating counsel that they are capable of conducting a satisfactory investigation while securing cooperation from the company and the required resources. They must also undertake the necessary tasks to reveal relevant facts.
This process, though easy to comprehend, takes an artful skill. The government can question the investigating counsel’s efforts of providing adequate information on witnesses and documents, whether they asked the right questions and were they committed to learning the truth. They can also decide to redo an investigation with costs directed at the company and discount the cooperation by the company in determining who and whether to bring an enforcement action and to prosecute.
