How To

How To Plan an Investigation

Attorney John Thompson provides a primer to help non-security personnel conduct effective investigations

By John Thompson

Multiple interviews. It is a rare investigation that resolves all questions after interviewing witnesses only once. First, the investigator will frequently learn new information later in the investigation process that he or she will need to discuss with previously interviewed individuals. Second, multiple interviews are an excellent way to assess credibility. Challenging an individual with contrary information, asking the same question in a slightly different way or asking about information learned since your first interview of the individual can give a better assessment of the credibility of that individual. Occasionally, the investigator might want to involve different interviewers to conduct a second round of interviews. This is appropriate if the first set of interviewers might have missed or been unable to obtain some critical information, or if it provides a valuable new perspective on the situation or if they possess different investigative skills, and so on. This approach also has drawbacks, such as creating more potential organization witnesses in any subsequent litigation. Do not adopt this approach without consulting with legal counsel. There may be situations that call for simultaneous interviews of individuals, ensuring that the individuals do not have the opportunity to contact each other prior to the interview. This situation can be addressed either by having the first interviewee remain in a room with a witness until the second interview starts, or by having simultaneous interviews by qualified investigators.

Written statements. Written statements minimize the opportunity for interviewees to dispute the investigator’s recollection of the interview or change their story. Statements also are a highly persuasive form of evidence. Many plaintiff lawyers have backed off when shown statements of several individuals refuting their client’s story. Consult with legal counsel about this decision.

Taking notes. If the investigation is later challenged legally, the organization will be asked to defend the fairness and quality of the investigative process. The plaintiff will argue that the organization came to the wrong result because the investigator did a poor investigation. The investigation will be more legally defensible if the organization can demonstrate that the investigator planned the investigation process, that the investigator considered each of the issues discussed in this section and that the investigator had rational reasons for following or not following the suggestions contained in this section. As always, contemporaneous notes about how the investigation was planned will be more accurate and credible to a jury or judge than oral testimony at a later point.

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