An investigating attorney’s choice of key terms and search patterns can reveal a significant amount about the nature and status of an internal investigation. Producing this list to, say, plaintiff's counsel or the government may inform this adverse third party about your concerns and thinking in just a few words: “Employees Smith and Johnson,” “bribe,” “Haiti,” “December 2012–2014.” The impact of this decision may also have other long-lasting results, including waiver of the work-product privilege. This article lays out the issues, and then explains why (and how) attorneys conducting internal investigations should protect their client’s interests by protecting such important information from improper and unnecessary disclosure.

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