Corporate and Internal Investigations Attorney in Nashville, TN

Written by Kimberly S. Hodde, National Chair of Criminal Defense at Meister Seelig & Schuster

A business entity can commission an outside law firm, such as Meister Seelig & Schuster (MSS), to conduct corporate and internal investigations, helping resolve internal challenges and prevent problems from escalating into unwanted publicity, civil litigation, or even criminal prosecution. These problems and challenges take many forms:

  • Missing company property
  • The internal or external theft of trade secrets or intellectual property
  • Sexual misconduct allegations
  • Government fraud investigations
  • Threatened whistleblower actions by disgruntled employees
  • Reports to hotlines or direct reports to HR
  • Financial discrepancies or internal audit red flags
  • Data breaches involving sensitive information
  • Cybersecurity or ransomware events
  • Regulatory changes or export/import control audits
  • Billing errors that force self-reporting
  • Blackmail by a shareholder
  • Discrimination allegations

When one of these situations threatens the organization’s operations, reputation, or legal position, an internal investigation can become an essential part of its crisis management and strategic response.

Why Outside Counsel Should Conduct the Investigation

Regardless of how the matter begins, it is essential that any substantive and credible internal review be conducted by an outside firm rather than your in-house counsel. This protects the process and outcome under the attorney-client privilege and ensures an unbiased, reliable outcome you can use to make internal corrections and prevent escalation. By engaging outside counsel, you insulate your in-house legal team from allegations of self-dealing or skewed results, and keep day-to-day operations uninterrupted. Meanwhile, the attorney-client privilege protects all records and communications with Kim Hodde and the MSS team.

How an Internal Investigation Protects the Organization

By conducting an internal corporate investigation, you educate owners, executives, and/or board members who may otherwise be disconnected from the brewing problem. The results and feedback help you identify which issues need to be addressed. If you do not conduct internal audits, you will not know what federal criminal or regulatory investigators may find if they issue a subpoena in connection with a civil or criminal investigation.

At MSS, we regularly retain businesses and corporations to conduct internal investigations and help resolve the crisis so the issue can be fully addressed.

Corporate Investigation Counsel in Nashville and Nationwide

In addition to leading her Nashville-based team, Kim Hodde is the National Chair of Criminal Defense at Meister Seelig & Schuster (MSS), collaborating with lawyers from the firm’s offices in Tennessee, New Jersey, Connecticut, California, and New York.

While retaining the individualized, strategic representation for which Ms. Hodde is renowned, this enlarged national platform gives clients access to the resources of an advanced, multi-office legal practice. Together, Kim Hodde and her colleagues at Meister Seelig & Schuster (MSS) offer top-tier defense for executives, entrepreneurs, professionals, and organizations in Nashville, Tennessee, and the US. If your organization is confronting suspected misconduct, fraud, a regulatory issue, or another internal crisis, contact Kim Hodde and MSS-Nashville to discuss a confidential investigation.

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