Internal investigations

Investigating complaints or concerns can be difficult for any organisation – but done well, it can ultimately strengthen your operations and give confidence to your stakeholders. Get it wrong and you risk serious damage to your reputation and face expensive and draining legal claims.

The circumstances that can prompt investigations can vary widely. There could be a complaint or an allegation of wrongdoing, or a query from the board. It may relate to something quite recent, or events that may have happened a long time ago.

Whatever the context, we know that investigations can seem overwhelming, with plenty of bear traps along the way. Sometimes it can be difficult to know where to start and what to consider.

We can help guide you through any investigation no matter how big or small or at what stage, advising on everything from defining the scope and parameters, to record keeping and reporting requirements, helping with regulators and other stakeholders, dealing with related claims and complaints, and helping you through related legal issues such as tricky data protection and confidentiality questions. We are very experienced in advising on, and managing, related reputational issues.

If you need to appoint an independent person to conduct an investigation, we can help with that, and if the investigation relates to an employees’ conduct, we can help with that too.

How we help

In any investigation there are lots of tricky issues to navigate. Getting professional support at an early stage can help map out the process and ensure your investigation is legally complaint, robust and defensible.

We have substantial experience in supporting on a range of investigations, from board investigations to investigations into members or trustees, to major non-recent or live safeguarding investigations.

If you are carrying out an investigation we can help:

  • Supporting in establishing the terms of reference and setting up the investigation in a legally compliant way.
  • Identifying witnesses and advising on evidence issues.
  • Addressing perceived conflicts of interest or challenges to the conduct of the investigation.
  • Advising on confidentiality and data privacy issues.
  • Advising on concurrent obligations including reporting requirements and managing stakeholder engagement and reputational issues.
  • Advising on concurrent duties relating to regulators, safeguarding, etc.
  • Maintaining confidentiality and privilege (where appropriate).
  • Assisting on any subsequent legal or regulatory action including the rights and obligations of those likely to be involved.
  • Advising on the steps to take following an investigation.
Meet our team
You May Also Be Interested In

Search and imaging orders: the new model form and what applicants need to consider

On 6 April 2025 changes to CPR Part 25 came into force, including the introduction of a new model form search and imaging order. In this article, experienced Supervising Solicitors Leticia Jennings, Alex de Jongh and Rob Oakley run the rule over the new model order and consider how it will operate in practice. 1. How …
Read more

Data breach claims boosted

The Court of Appeal judgment in Farley and Others v Paymaster (1836) Limited (trading as Equiniti) [2025] has given life to low level data breach claims – bad news for those organisations careless or unfortunate enough to suffer a data breach (and their insurers, and the county courts), good news for claimants (and lawyers). The …
Read more

UK Supreme Court unanimously rules legal definition of “woman” in the Equality Act 2010 is based on biological sex; For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16

This article was first published on the 16 April 2025. It has been updated following the publication of the EHRC Update on 25 April, and again following the amendments made to that Update on 24 June. On 16 April 2025, the UK Supreme Court reached a unanimous decision, in the case of For Women Scotland …
Read more

Strategic litigation: Driving change and positive impact. July 2025

Welcome to our latest round-up of developments in strategic litigation. In this edition, we cover a range of developments from the UK and overseas. A common theme is the lasting impact that decisions can have in developing jurisprudence, policy, and playbooks for claimants. Last year’s Supreme Court decision in Finch is a case in point: …
Read more

Early Neutral Evaluation: A game-changer for resolving sports disputes

Early Neutral Evaluation (ENE) is becoming an increasingly valuable tool in UK dispute resolution. While commonly used in business and contractual disagreements, ENE is also gaining traction in the world of professional sports, where legal conflicts often involve sponsorship deals, regulatory issues, and financial disputes between clubs, players, and governing bodies. Recent high-profile sports disputes, …
Read more