Debevoise instills confidence in its clients and routinely guides them through some of the most challenging corporate crises they face. The firm combines the skills of seasoned lawyers in the White Collar & Regulatory Defense Group, the Financial Institutions Group and its Commercial Litigation practice to evaluate multifaceted threats and develop strategies to resolve them. The first tasks in any crisis involve supporting the client’s internal team, mastering the facts quickly and honing a strategy consistent with the client’s business goals.

Debevoise is well positioned to do just that. With more than a dozen former prosecutors and regulators on its teams, there are few fact patterns that Debevoise lawyers have not seen before. Clients will find themselves expertly represented in inquiries launched, sometimes simultaneously, by the United States Congress, by grand juries empaneled by federal enforcement authorities, as well as by federal and state regulators, state attorneys general and private litigants. A deep knowledge of, and ability to forecast, the actions of public agencies is enhanced by the leadership of several members of the firm who have previously served in senior cabinet positions.

Debevoise lawyers keep in mind that no client views responding to an investigation as its main line of business. Each Debevoise team takes pains to ensure a minimal disruption to a company’s ongoing business while investigations are under way. With those principles in mind, the firm’s lawyers routinely advise companies on all aspects of crisis and investigative response, including:

• conducting internal investigations;
• preparing witnesses to appear before investigating agencies or congressional committees;
• developing internal and external communications strategies, including providing advice on public disclosures;
• advocacy before investigating agencies;
• developing remedial strategies to ensure that, to the extent applicable, issues that may have contributed to the crisis do not recur; and
• reviewing compliance structures to identify other areas of risk.