Congressional Investigations
Congressional investigations are dynamic and fast-paced, demanding sharp strategic legal knowledge to guide businesses and individuals through the intricate web of government inquiries. With the right legal counsel, those facing these types of inquiries can confidently navigate these challenges and protect what matters most.
Snell & Wilmer’s Congressional investigations team, which includes former Congressional staffers, Department of Justice attorneys, and seasoned professionals who have held key roles across various levels of government, brings experience navigating complex congressional investigations to offer practical guidance for clients into the ever-changing landscape of Congressional investigations. Our clients have included corporations, officers, directors, Members of Congress, executive branch government officials and individuals.
Congressional inquiries are launched in different ways and take different shapes. You may see a post online containing a letter directed at you from an individual Member of Congress who represents a district located across the country from where your business operates. Or you may receive a call and email with a request from a Committee chair or ranking member seeking voluminous documents or sensitive information about you or your company.
With significant Congressional investigations experience, our attorneys leverage trusted, bipartisan relationships to help clients navigate the unique process with precision and efficiency. Our services include:
- Congressional Testimonies, Document Production, and Hearings: We advise clients who are subpoenaed or called to testify before Congressional committees and/or respond to requests for documents and information from committees or individual Members of Congress. Our team helps you respond to such subpoenas or requests, prepare for testimony, safeguard your legal rights, and fully understand the obligations and potential risks involved in these high-stakes proceedings.
- Crisis Management and Reputation Protection: Congressional investigations are usually intended to draw media attention, and our team helps you navigate the legal aspect of the investigation with public relations concerns in mind.
- Proactive Internal Investigations: Before a Congressional inquiry even begins, we assist organizations with internal investigations to assess potential legal, political, and public relations risks. By addressing concerns early, we can help ensure full compliance with relevant laws and regulations.
Responsive and Agile: We understand that no two investigations are alike, which is why we craft innovative, customized strategies to protect our clients from legal, reputational, political, and financial risks. We remain nimble to changing circumstances and political dynamics in an effort to provide our clients the best path forward in a Congressional investigation or inquiry.
Experienced and Invested: Our attorneys regularly represent clients before Congressional committees, the SEC, the DOJ and other federal and state regulators. We regularly lead teams of major audit firms, forensic accountants, and public relations professionals to best represent clients facing investigations. Our team has a long track record of developing strong compliance programs for a broad range of corporations, which bolsters the team’s investigation and post-investigation experience.
Connected and Recognized: Our lawyers leverage the resources of a large firm to address the complex and often time-sensitive issues that arise in Congressional inquiries. Deep and longstanding relationships with government officials give our attorneys a level of credibility and respect with decision-makers that can make a difference when it matters most. The outstanding reputations that our attorneys enjoy with government decision-makers gives our work product unparalleled credibility when it comes to regulatory and charging decisions.
Our team has represented organizations and individuals before most committees in Congress, including:
- Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs)
- Senate Committee on Finance
- Senate Judiciary Committee
- House Judiciary Committee
- Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
- House Committee on Ethics
- Office of Congressional Ethics
- House Committee on Energy and Commerce
- House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
- House Committee on Science, Space and Technology
- House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis