Increases in corruption, serious fraud and regulatory scrutiny mean more pressure on organisations to raise their vigilance. It's why they need advisers that go beyond tracing and recovering money to manage the people issues and associated risk at the heart of the problems.
As well as being specialist employment lawyers, Wragge & Co's Employment Investigations team is trained in cognitive interviewing techniques and experienced in having its advice implemented and evidence tested in courts.
Comprising ex-policemen, barristers and psychologists, the team combines a unique and cost-effective blend of legal and investigative expertise that secures results. On one occasion the Serious Fraud Office even adopted the team's investigation and mounted criminal proceedings on the back of it.
Areas of expertise
Advising public and private sector clients on investigations ranging from employee fraud and corruption to grievances, whistle-blowing and discrimination issues, the team provides the speedy, yet thorough, approach required. It is not just a case of telling clients what information they need to gather. At the client's side or standing in their shoes, the team can train and support clients' internal resource or roll its sleeves up to conduct interviews and trawl through documents to reach a successful conclusion on the client's behalf.
While many HR departments only have the time, experience or resource to carry out small-scale investigations, the team is experienced in handling even the largest of cases and has the results to prove it.
In one case, this involved a potential £300 million fraud involving a construction company and a major bank. In another, in the midst of national media interest, it advised on a major investigation for the Isle of Wight Council. Interviewing 40 witnesses, reviewing 200 boxes of documents and searching volumes of email archives and computer hard drives, the team ran an investigation that resulted in a number of dismissals and subsequent Serious Fraud Office action.
Whether organisations need to demonstrate impartiality to internal and external stakeholders or achieve broader commercial aims, the team offers a strategic and commercially-focused approach to reaching clients' goals. In one particularly complex case involving allegations of financial impropriety, the team assisted a major bank to achieve its objective, avoiding serious financial and reputational damage. Its experts are also on hand where organisations need to investigate the very people that would usually conduct an investigation.
Preventive, regulatory and recovery
Prevention is always better than cure. The ability to call on the firm's wider expertise means the team has a wide reach. This includes ready access to Tom Ellis, a specialist in corruption matters, experienced competition adviser Bernardine Adkins, the firm's regulatory experts, including Susan Dearden, Andrew Litchfield and John Cooper, and recoveries specialist Clark Sargent. The team also advises on improvements to anti-corruption systems and compliance training.
For more information on employee-related investigations, contact partner Trevor Gibson (trevor_gibson@wragge.com) or associate Nic Elliott (nic_elliott@wragge.com).
