Global Investigations podcast: Episode 3

In our third episode of the Inside Investigations podcast series, Thomas Hubbard (Senior Associate, Investigations, Enforcement and Compliance team, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP, London) is joined by Alexander Cappel (Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP, Frankfurt), Rongxin Huang (Partner, Shanghai Pacific Legal, Shanghai) and Kevin Harnisch (Head of White Collar Defense and Investigations, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP, Washington) to discuss privilege in investigations.

In this first of two podcasts on privilege, the team give an overview of the privilege protections in the US, Germany, PRC and the UK and examine why it is so important to consider privilege protections when conducting an investigation. The team also discuss different jurisdictions’ positions on privilege and how this might affect the strategy at the start of an investigation.

Key takeaways from the conversation include:

1. Protecting privilege is a crucial part of any investigation and there are key differences in the approach to privilege in different jurisdictions. Being aware of the rules on privilege which will apply is an essential part of running an investigation and will shape strategy and how information is shared.
2. In the US, the concept of attorney-client privilege is broader than in other jurisdictions including the UK, which takes a narrow view of who the “client” is for the purposes of legal advice privilege.
3. Legal privilege in Germany exists but it primarily applies where a lawyer advises as a criminal defence lawyer and therefore it is important to be clear on what role a lawyer is taking in an investigation.
4. The concept of attorney-client privilege does not exist in the PRC and regulators have broad powers to request documents during an investigation, but it is still important to be aware of what other privilege protections might apply.
5. Take time to consider the approach to privilege at the outset of an investigation – “you can’t put the genie back in the bottle”.

The new episode can be found here: please listen and subscribe to the series for more insight and practical tips on how to handle investigations.

If you missed out on Episodes 1 or 2, catch up here.