Global Hearings and Inquiries

Government hearings and inquiries pose a significant business, legal and reputational risk for companies and individuals. These matters require a strategic, comprehensive response from practitioners who understand how to navigate the nuances of the US Congress, UK Parliament and legal forums such as public inquiries in the UK, as well as the specific regulatory environments in which our clients operate. Clients often face these challenges across multiple jurisdictions simultaneously, requiring a coordinated, thoughtful approach that aligns with a global strategy while remaining tailored to each respective jurisdiction.

Our team is skilled at preparing witnesses and companies, helping them navigate public hearings and inquiries across the US, UK, EU and Australia. At the same time, we remain mindful of potential civil litigation and regulatory actions that may follow or even run concurrently, liaising closely with our litigation and CooleyREG teams, respectively, to implement an informed, practical strategy. Our team utilizes decades of experience to devise a strategy specific to each client, with the goal of mitigating any potential risks and ensuring cohesion with our client’s long-term positioning.

We guide clients through every aspect of hearings, both private and public, developing responses at each stage designed to reduce client impact. This includes advising in anticipation of an inquiry, developing evidence strategy, managing informal and formal negotiations on inquiry parameters and disclosure, responding to voluntary document requests or subpoenas, preparing witnesses for public hearings or private staff-led interviews and depositions, and guiding clients on media and reputational risk.

Our team includes our Chambers-ranked US congressional investigations practice, which clients have described as “able to handle the most complex congressional investigations” and “having a client-centered and tailored approach.”

The team’s recent experience outside the US includes:

• Representing Whirlpool in the Grenfell Tower public inquiry in the UK.
• Representing a former CEO in the Post Office Horizon IT public inquiry in the UK.
• Advising various companies and a senior public figure in respect of appearances in front of parliamentary select committees in the UK.
• Preparing a multinational Fortune 500 tech company’s executives for testimony in hearings before parliamentary committees in Australia, the UK and Canada.
• Counseling government agency heads and senior officials on high-stakes appearances before Australian House and Senate committees (including Senate estimates).
• Advising on statutory powers and complex procedural issues relating to royal commissions in Australia, including the scope of compulsory coercive powers and jurisdictional challenges.