Chapter 1: Investigative Standards

Chapter 2: Case Management System: Labels and Notices

i-Sight (now Case IQ) software enables an enterprise to incorporate efficiently and directly into the investigative record legally desirable labels and notices that protect the enterprise and promote a positive outcome.

Labels and notices in an investigation file have legal impact. Recognized labels (such as attorney-client privilege and attorney work product) can influence a court.

Privilege and Work Product

Two legal doctrines can shield investigation-related information from disclosure in court or in pre-trial discovery. The first doctrine is attorney-client privilege, which ensures that communications between an attorney and his or her client remain confidential. The second is attorney work product, which prevents disclosure to adversaries of materials prepared by or under the direction of an attorney for a client in anticipation of litigation.

The application of these two doctrines can be controversial in particular cases. Often, courts hold that records of a routine internal audit (or business audit) within
an enterprise are not protected by either doctrine, even though a lawyer may have been involved or litigation may have been one of the reasons for the audit. (Edna Selan Epstein, The Attorney-Client Privilege and the Work-Product Doctrine, Volume 1, 2007 page 356 et seq.)

The division between a mere internal audit, on the one hand, and a protected record or communication, on the other, can be open to interpretation. This is a risk for an enterprise that conducts a sensitive investigation.

i-Sight (now Case IQ)’s software mitigates the risk in two ways. First, it places labels and notices directly into the investigative record. Second, it automatically
encourages and documents attorney engagement in an investigation.

Persuading a Court

A label or notice on a report declaring that it is protected can help persuade a court that, in fact, it is entitled to protection. Example notice: “Confidential. This record is protected attorney-client communication and attorney work product to formulate legal advice in preparation for dispute.”

According to a leading legal commentator, a notice declaring attorney-client privilege is “like chicken soup for an illness”. Though it’s not guaranteed to succeed as a self-fulfilling declaration of legal status, it might help and normally won’t hurt. (Edna Selan Epstein, The Attorney-Client Privilege and the Work Product Doctrine, Volume 1, 2007, page 877.)

For these reasons, an investigator is wise, under the advice of counsel, to embed notices into the investigative record. i-Sight (now Case IQ) software provides ample notes
fields for embedding such notices, and can set rules for doing it automatically.

Chapter 3: Case Management System: Audit Trails

Chapter 4: Case Management System: Software as a Service

Chapter 5: Case Management System: Flexibility