Those Investigations By Law Firms: What Could Be Really Going Down?

 Ever since Paul, Weiss was parachuted in by Fox in 2016 to investigate allegations of misconduct those kinds of investigations have become a major practice niche for law firms. 

But early in the game there have been questions about how objective those probes are. For example, does the corporation give the marching orders to the law firm to be prosecutorial in how it frames the investigation? Also, there has been ongoing scrutiny of Dechert's 2021 investigation of Apollo co-founder Leon Black's payment of $158 million to Jeffrey Epstein.

Now, the very credibility of such probes has been under a global microscope. That has been triggered by the investigations of KPMG by law firms Allens and Ashursts. There had been a whistleblower complaint of misuse of confidential client data. How the law firms went about their investigation is under scrutiny. What issues did they pursue and which did they not pursue? Was justice shortchanged?

Law Fuel reports:

" ...  both firms remain adamant that their lawyers act in accordance with their professional obligations, which include independence and confidentiality."

But, come on, brewing seems a reputational crisis for not only these law firms but the whole growing investigations practice niche. This could evolve into a concern for corporate governance. Disclosure of a biased or partial investigation could deliver a brutal hit to the stock and the brand. Not unthinkable is that this assignment be yanked from law firms and put into the hands of other types of businesses. 

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