On Thursday, March 9, 2023, Perkins Coie hosted a highly interactive CLE webinar that garnered nearly 400 attendees titled: The Delicate Task: How to Conduct a Trauma-Informed, Survivor-Centered Internal Investigation. The CLE program was moderated by T. Markus Funk and featured U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Kendall, University of Colorado-Boulder Chief Operating Officer (and former General Counsel) Patrick O’Rourke, and Chris Wilkinson.  

The speakers shared best practices and their experiences investigating cases of workplace violence, sexual and racial trauma, and other instances of power-based harm. They also fielded some 30 informative audience questions and offered practical advice on how employers can deploy tailored, trauma-informed interviewing techniques.

Supplemental Materials

• Read the leading book on understanding and appropriately investigating cases of sexual abuse.
• Read the Law360 article “10 Trauma-Informed Techniques For Workplace Investigations”: 10 Trauma-Informed Techniques For Workplace Investigations 
• Listen to the White Collar Briefly podcast on Trauma-Informed Investigation Techniques in the Workplace: Trauma-Informed Investigation Techniques in the Workplace - Episode 28 

Guest Speakers

The Hon. Virginia Kendall, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Judge Kendall, while with the U.S. Department of Justice, prosecuted some of the nation’s highest-profile sexual exploitation cases. She teaches trauma-informed investigative techniques to prosecutors and judges around the world, chairs the ABA Victims of Crime Task Force, and co-authored, with program moderator T. Markus Funk, the leading book on understanding and appropriately investigating cases of sexual abuse.

University of Colorado Boulder Executive Vice-Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer Patrick O’Rourke. Prior to assuming his current position, Pat served as vice president, university counsel, and secretary of the University of Colorado Board of Regents. During his time as university counsel, Pat oversaw, among other matters, the university’s high-profile investigation into James Holmes, a former CU student and “the convicted Aurora theater shooter."